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Biography: Holly Jean Smith is the widow of Charles, a British Royal Army soldier who was killed by Soviet forces during World War Three. Holly herself fought in the Japanese Front for two years before meeting the future Stormbreakers at the Siege of Hiroshima. Holly is one of the founding members of the Stormbreakers and was the only member of the team to come out of the battle unharmed. Holly remained in the British Army during the peace and was part of the Allied occupation of western Russia from 2013 until 2015. During the 2015 Alien Invasion, she was recruited to XCOM because of her leadership abilities and was quickly put in charge of a squad. Holly was captured by the ADVENT Coalition almost immediately after the birth of Jericho in September 2015. She was rescued from suspended animation in 2035 as part of Operation Gatecrasher. As the highest-ranking member of the team, Holly is now the de facto leader of the Stormbreakers.
Fought in the Siege of Hiroshima as a defender.
Supported Project Jericho.
Physical Description: Holly is a lifelong soldier; therefore, she is built like one. She stands five feet six inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. Holly is Caucasian with mixed western European ancestry. (French, English, Welsh, Dutch) She has short dirty blonde hair, fair skin, and light blue eyes. The names of every soldier killed while serving under Holly’s command are tattooed on her back. Currently, Holly has 42 tattoos. Holly received Gene Mods through XCOM’s Genetics Lab during the 2015 Invasion.
Personality Assessment: Holly Smith is perhaps the single most destructive soldier ever fielded by XCOM. The words “Collateral Damage” have no meaning to her. She never has and still doesn’t care about how much damage she causes to civilian property during her pursuit of the Alien enemy. Despite her penchant for destruction, Holly is extremely protective of soldiers under her charge, and takes her duties as squad leader very seriously. She is a “mother of the troops” kind of soldier and is viewed favorably by her subordinates.
Additional Notes (Celebrity Status): Holly is one of the six founding members of the Stormbreakers, and is therefore considered to be a Japanese national hero. She doesn’t seem to care about this one way or the other.
Additional Notes (Genetic Modifications):
Brain: none
Eyes: none
Chest:
Adrenal Neurosympathy: During combat, Holly’s adrenal glands will overload, causing her body to emit pheromones that will trigger a powerful adrenaline rush in all nearby Humans.
Skin:
Iron Skin: Holly’s body is extremely resistant to physical injury.
Legs:
AdaptiveBoneMarrow: Holly can recover from wounds and injuries twice as fast as a normal person.
Biography: Yutaka was studying to become a psychologist before the Soviet invasion of Japan, and witnessed the initial Soviet invasion of Hokkaido at the beginning of World War Three. In 2008, he joined the Japan Self Defense Force and served on the front lines of the war for about three years. He participated in the Sendai Campaign, the Encirclement of Kyoto, and all seven Battles of Tottori. In 2011, Yutaka secretly betrayed Japan to the Soviet Union and gave away crucial intelligence to the Russians that ultimately triggered the Siege of Hiroshima. The Soviet government promised him a position of power in a future Japanese Communist government after the war. Yutaka was asked to guide the Soviet Army into Hiroshima, where he was confronted by the six founding members of the Stormbreakers: Blake Robinson, Chihiro Tachibana, Aaron Ray, Kotori Sato, Holly Smith, and Jake Green. During their fight, Yutaka very nearly killed Chihiro Tachibana, and took advantage of her distress to escape. He lived in Post-Soviet Russia for three years after the Siege ended. During the 2015 Alien Invasion, he demonstrated an uncanny ability to treat injuries caused by alien weapons. It is a well-documented fact that people who have been shot with plasma and gauss weapons are much more likely to survive their injuries if Yutaka is given the chance to treat them. He continued to provide medical support to the East Asian Resistance throughout the rule of the ADVENT Coalition and was invited to join XCOM in 2028. In 2034 he formally joined the Stormbreakers. There was a fight between himself and Chihiro Tachibana when she rejoined the team in 2035. They have settled their differences since then, but are by no means friends.
Fought in the Siege of Hiroshima as an attacker.
Was not part of XCOM at the time of the Jericho Schism, thus he has no opinion on the subject.
Physical Description: Yutaka Yamamoto is five feet nine inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He is of mixed Japanese/Korean heritage and has black hair with hazel eyes.
Personality Assessment: Highly ambitious, Yutaka is a textbook “rank-chaser.” He is obsessed with personal promotion and advancement, he currently aspires to replace Holly Smith as the leader of the Stormbreakers. Some people say he might try to take over as Commander of XCOM as well. Yutaka is usually the first soldier to exit a fight when things go south, and always has an escape route ready for use. He is more than willing to use and abuse people for his own gain as well, and has developed incredible manipulation skills to that end.
Additional Notes (Celebrity Status): During the Siege of Hiroshima, Blake Robinson and Chihiro Tachibana alerted the Japanese government to Yutaka’s betrayal. They also spread the word to the defenders of the city and told all of their friends and comrades. Yutaka himself is now hated and reviled throughout most of Japan, although his perfidy was ultimately overshadowed by the double treason of Yukiko Takahashi, who betrayed Japan to the Russians alongside Yutaka and then sold out XCOM to the Aliens just three years later.
Additional Notes: (Politics): During the final days of World War Three, Yutaka renounced his Japanese citizenship and became a citizen of the Soviet Union, which collapsed a few days later. He does not have citizenship in the new Russian Federation, which makes Yutaka a man with no nation. Furthermore, Yutaka is not welcome in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, or Germany. (WWIII Allies)
What? Did you really think I came all the way out here without a narrative story to tell?
======
Chapter One
February 18, 2028
Shipyard Nynrah, Beznar Star System, Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth
“Containment unit unlocked, all power signatures in the green.”
“System is pressuring. Atmosphere is stable on both sides.”
“Subject has entered the chamber.”
“Tracking progress.”
“Progress good. Subject integration underway. Standby for updates.”
Nearly fifteen thousand people from across six different species all held their collective breath. This would be the moment of truth. All across the drydock, spectators and workers alike tentatively held their breath, putting all of their hopes and prayers into the next few minutes.
Contained within the drydock itself was the mighty warship Mahuika. In the thirteen years that had passed since the beginning of the Second Hyperspace War, the Flagship of the Triple Alliance had fought many battles and now had a battered and beaten look to her. The retrofits the ship was receiving were certainly important, but there was one upgrade taking place deep within the vessel that had the potential to make the Mahuika into the most important ship in the Galaxy.
On the flagship’s bridge, it was impossible to take two steps without walking into someone. Assurians, Partogans, Levakians, reptilian Kelt, avian Vanians and Amadii, and Micore droids all milled about together, chatting with each other excitedly. Despite the fact that seven different species were represented here today, they all wore the same military uniform: one that bore the green and purple colors of the Triple Alliance. Originally a military force that represented the united and combined firepower of the Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth, the United States of Assuria, and the Micore Empire; the Triple Alliance had grown to incorporate many smaller nations that had been left by the wayside when the Galactic Council collapsed several years ago. It was now the second-largest military alliance in existence, rivalled only by the Hiigaran-led Galactic Alliance, which operated on the other side of the Galaxy.
At the dais in the center of the Mahuika’s bridge, a Partogan man with a powerful athletic body, intense purple eyes, and sleek silver hair waved his hand for attention, and the bridge fell silent. The man spoke up loudly and started the proceedings.
“I want to thank you all for attending this… well, it’s not really a ceremony, is it?” he joked. “For those of you who don’t know, I am Commander Manako Ranginui of the Commonwealth Green Guard. And I want to thank you all for coming to witness the completion of a project that my sister and I have spent the past six years of our lives working on.”
Behind him, the viewscreen lit up to reveal an overhead shot of a technologically sophisticated supercomputer core located somewhere deep inside the Mahuika. Onscreen, a group of scientists were hard at work on the most unusual thing one would ever expect to see in a supercomputer core: A medical bed.
And there was someone on it.
Manako held up a little remote control and clicked it.
“Hello sister!” Manako said loudly. “Can you hear us? You’ve got an audience for your big achievement!”
Onscreen, the scientists parted and allowed the camera to get a good view of the partially-naked Partogan female who was lying on the medical bed. Manako’s twin sister, Makara Ranginui, waved up at the camera. As she did so, nearly a hundred electrical cables strewn about the floor jostled and jumped in rhythm with her movements. Makara had the same face as her twin: angular with high cheekbones and full of pride. Makara would have had a head full of beautiful silver hair, but for this procedure, she had been shaved bald. Now some fifty electrical cables and wires of varying size and shape were now directly attached to the top, sides, and back of her head. In fact, Makara’s whole body was wired into the computer core. Most of the scientists in the room were simply here to make sure the cables didn’t get tangled or broken during Makara’s final move to the Nerve Center.
“Bro, you know I’m camera-shy!” Makara teased. “And I’ve been dying to get this done for years. Can’t we just get this show on the road!?”
“This is your show, Maka.” Manako replied, calling his sister by her nickname. “Go at your pace.”
“Thanks bro! Love you!” Maka said. Then she went back to speaking with the scientists around her.
Meanwhile, Manako continued addressing the Triple Alliance officers on the bridge:
“Over a century ago, the Hiigaran neuroscientist Karan S’jet unlocked the technology to become Unbound. She was physically integrated into her Mothership as its living Central Processing Unit. She used her cybernetic implants and bio-circuitry to process Quadrillions of packets of information every second. She was Fleet Command, in every sense of the word, able to micromanage an entire armada of warships while simultaneously maintaining and operating the internal systems of her Mothership.
“For one hundred years, Karan was the only Organic CPU in the Galaxy. Today, that will end. Thanks to the combined efforts and research of my sister and myself, plus a little help from our new Hiigaran friends, the Triple Alliance now stands ready to commission its first Organic CPU. Doctor Tuterangi! What’s our status?”
One of the scientists working in the Supercomputer Core turned to face the camera and addressed the audience.
“Miss Ranginui has been sedated and moved into the Nerve Center. She’ll be integrated into the Supercomputer Core momentarily.”
“The Nerve Center…” Manako explained to the watching crowd. “Is a specialized chamber designed specifically for Maka to live and work in. I’ll confess that our Nerve Center is nowhere near as ostentatious as the one used by Karan S’jet, but it will serve the same purpose. My sister will enjoy the same level of sensory input and control over the Mahuika that S’jet did over her own Mothership.”
There was a little excited chatter about this. The military leadership of the Triple Alliance was starting to think about something very specific, and Manako had read their minds. He smiled as he explained to them:
“Once Maka is fully integrated into the Mahuika’s central computer, the Flagship and all ships in her fleet will enjoy the benefits of being supported by the most powerful combat computer in the Galaxy! Triple Alliance reaction times, weapon precision, and logistic efficiency will improve tenfold, and I guarantee you all, the Beast will never know what hit it! And if she were awake right now, Maka would stake her life on this technology to back me up!”
The military leaders of the Triple Alliance started to applaud Manako’s little speech, but they were cut off by a sudden voice that came out of the intercom system above their heads:
“Nerve Center integration successful.”
Maka’s voice echoed throughout the entire flagship for just a moment before all of the lights and screens went out! For half a second, the Mahuika was plunged into absolute darkness. Then all the lights came back on! Manako looked giddy as he turned slowly on the spot, watching as computer screens all over the bridge flickered to life. He was awaiting confirmation that his sister had successfully transitioned into her new role as an Organic Computer.
“Maka?” Manako breathed softly. “Is that you? How do you feel?”
“This is Triple Alliance Fleet Command.” Maka’s voice gently filled the ship. “Flagship status report: Command on-line. Engineering on-line. Resourcing systems fully operational. Navigation on-line. Weapons systems fully charged. Hyperspace Module on-line. Drives on-line. Standby to commence main engine test.”
The Mahuika suddenly lurched beneath everyone's feet! The helm control screen showed that the flagships’s engines had been throttled up to “ahead one-third.” In the ship’s Nerve Center, Maka sent a mental command to the engines, shutting them down.
“Engine test complete. All standard drives are operational. The Flagship is standing by.”
This time, applause and cheers threatened to deafen everybody on the bridge! Dozens of hands slapped Manako on the back and there was loud popping sound as somebody uncorked a bottle of Madu Cabolo. In this long, bloody war full of painful defeats, it was good to have a little win like this every once in a while, no matter how small it was.
As the visiting officers started to filter out at the end of the day, Manako collapsed into a chair on the far side of the bridge and let out a deep sigh. All around him, the Mahuika let out many metallic groans and creeks as she settled into her scaffolding. It was almost as though the ship itself was taking a moment to relax as well.
December 2, 2028
Nithascal Star System, Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth
The moment of relaxation was short-lived. The Beast didn’t take any shore leave. As soon as military leadership was satisfied Maka had been fully integrated into the Mahuika’s systems, the Flagship of the Triple Alliance was pressed back into service. Somebody high up the chain of command had pulled a few strings somewhere, and Manako was allowed to stay aboard the ship on a permanent basis. Officially, he was a “Nerve Center Engineer.” In reality, he was just continuing the work he’d started with his sister. Every day it would be Manako’s duty to maintain and troubleshoot the advanced technology that allowed Maka to interface with the Supercomputer Core.
To an outsider, it looked like Manako was carrying out his duties in total silence and solitude. After all, his sister’s body was sealed away within a Stasis tube inside of the Nerve Center. While her mind was interfaced with the Mahuika’s Supercomputer Core, her body remained idle and unused. It would be reasonable for anyone to assume that Manako worked in silence because he had nobody to talk to. He was alone.
But Manako and Makara Ranginui were never alone. They always had each other.
At a very young age, the twins had discovered something wonderful. They could hear each other’s thoughts, experience sensations through one another, and share their minds with each other at will. As children, the Ranginui twins had done what any child would do with the power of telepathy: play pranks on their friends and get away with anything. Manako and Maka became something like neighborhood magicians, using their shared minds to astound and befuddle their peers, and a few adults as well.
Maka was an intensely curious girl. For her, every fourth or fifth sentence would begin with the word “Why” and her thirst for knowledge would sometimes get her into trouble. Luckily, Manako had fallen effortlessly into the role of overprotective brother. Manako could respond to his sister’s crying faster and more effectively than their own father. When the twins grew older their telepathic link, combined with Manako’s eagerness to protect and shield Maka, would often generate awkward and embarrassing situations, especially when Maka started looking for a boyfriend.
But it was during their early teenage years when Manako and Makara’s abilities were finally noticed by someone important. Their Grandmother, the current Queen of the Commonwealth, told Maka and Manako that they were “Gifted” and offered to give the twins a tool that would make their telepathy much more powerful. By pure good (or bad) luck, Manako and Maka had been sedated and sent into brain surgery on the same day the Second Hyperspace War began. When the twins woke up, they found that the universe around them had changed radically: Manako and Maka now had Psionic Amplifiers implanted inside their bodies, and the entire Galaxy was at war.
For a few years, the twins had split up. Manako enlisted in the Commonwealth Navy. He fought on the front lines of the Second Hyperspace War and rose to the rank of Commander in very short time, thanks in part to his now Amplified psychokinetic powers. Maka, meanwhile, became obsessed with the very concept of the Gift. She trained to become a scientist and studied the brain, looking for a way to use her Gift to aid the war effort on a large scale. Eventually, while the Galaxy burned around her, Maka made a breakthrough.
Reaching out to her brother from hundreds of light-years away, Maka called Manako back to her and they set about on her grand project: Maka would make herself into an Unbound. The name belonged to people who used cybernetic implants and bio-circuitry to permanently integrate themselves into a starship, becoming one and the same with their vessels. Sadly, the Unbound were a very rare group of sentients. The enigmatic Bentusi were an entire species of Unbound beings, but they had gone extinct a couple decades ago. The Vaygr Warlord Makaan had used an ingenious integration system, but his technology was lost along with his own life at the Battle of Balcora. The Hiigaran leader Karan S’jet had abandoned her original integration system and was currently inhabiting the Progenitor Battleship Sajuuk. As a result, there were no modern integration systems Makara could base her own on.
With few examples to work from, Maka and Manako had to start from scratch, but after nearly six years of work, here they were… as successful as they could possibly be. For the Ranginui twins, it was the first time in years that either one of them entertained the thought that the war could be won. Maka was convinced that she could use her Gift to make herself into the most powerful Unbound ever. Against an enemy like the Beast, the risk of trying was insignificant next to the promise of victory.
On this morning, just like any other, Manako started the day by saying hello to his sister through one of the thousands of microphones and cameras positioned throughout the Mahuika’s interior, then he moved up to the bridge and reported to Captain Enoka for his morning brief.
Captain Enoka had been fighting in the Second Hyperspace War since the day it had started. He had been one of the few people to escape from the Blorg Homeworld, the very first planet to fall to the Beast thirteen years ago. The man was haggard, worn, and appeared to have aged at least three decades over the last one. Hard to believe this battle-hardened commander was only five years older than Manako and Makara.
Of course, Captain Enoka had not told his life story to Manako. The male Ranginui twin had his own way of learning a person’s history:
Like most Gifted beings in the Galaxy (and there were shockingly few of them these days) Maka and Manako each had one special power that was unique to them and nobody else. While Maka’s power made it easier for her to talk with strange, foreign aliens, Manako’s unique power opened up an immense range of possibilities. Whenever Manako touched a living being, he could use a small fraction of his power to instantly learn all of the memories and experiences of that being. A simple handshake could teach Manako the entire life story of the individual, and he made use of this power whenever the opportunity arose. This way, Manako would always have the advantage in any conversation or activity with a person he’d touched. Manako made a point of shaking hands with Captain Enoka the first thing he did each morning, so that he would be alerted to any developments the Captain was keeping from his crew.
Today, before Captain Enoka had even begun to speak, Manako clasped the man’s hand in a firm but polite greeting and instantly learned that a civilian guest would be boarding the ship today, and that the Captain wasn’t too comfortable having her aboard.
“Commander Ranginui. Got a quick job for you.” Captain Enoka said as soon as Manako broke off their traditional morning handshake. “We have a visitor. Some woman from the Royal Science Academy just landed in the hangar bay about ten minutes ago. Admiralty says she’s here to study your sister and see how she holds up in combat. She’ll stay aboard for the duration of our tour along the Galactic Front Line. Go get her and drop her off in the Nerve Center, would you? Her name’s ‘Mira Mihaka.’ You can’t miss her. She’s only got one eye and she’s on the older side.”
Manako tried to hide the look of recognition on his face as he stepped off the bridge. He had heard that name many times before, but had never met the person it belonged to. He was intrigued.
The hangar bay was nearly thirty decks below the bridge, and elevators only went so far. Taking the last two decks by staircase and ladder, Manako was sweating under his uniform when he finally got to the hangar bay. Luckily, the woman he had been told to meet, this “Mira Mihaka,” was pretty easy to find. Against the muted colors of the Mahuika crew, she stood out like a brightly-colored leaf on dark waters.
Mira was wearing a sleek Commonwealth Navy flightsuit and leaning on the nosecone of a Hapaka-Class space superiority fighter. The Hapaka were smaller, lighter, and faster cousins of the now defunct Vako-Class, which had flown primarily during the Levakian Uprising almost a century ago. Mira herself was only carrying a laptop computer. It had a custom-fitted handle that allowed her to carry it much like a briefcase. She also wore a dark green eyepatch over her right eye socket. It had a stylized version of the old Kingdom of Partoga flag on it: three dots surrounded by a pair of double crescents, an artistic map of the Trecta Star System.
Even though Mira and Manako had never met before today, they both gave one another looks of recognition. Manako raised his hand to shake Mira’s, but he was surprised when she ignored it and walked around him. Manako shrugged this off and followed her out of the hangar bay. He knew he’d get another chance to read her memories.
While they rode the elevator up to the Supercomputer Core, Manako tried once again to learn Mira’s history. He reached across her chest to push the elevator buttons, and when he withdrew, Manako tried to brush his hand against Mira’s exposed forearm, but she quickly dropped her arm to one side and turned her whole body, fiddling with her laptop and keeping her suspicious eye on Manako. The tension passed after a few moments. For the rest of the journey, the two of them played the same game that occurred whenever a member of the Ranginui family crossed paths with a Mihaka: They tried to figure out how they were related to one another.
Mira went first:
“So, my dad was Matiu Mihaka, his dad was Namuna Mihaka, and his dad was Kuhina Nui Rakato Mihaka! Pretty neat, huh?”
“Wow!" Manako answered, "So your great-grandfather was Queen Kendra’s second Kuhina Nui, huh? Alright, I can beat that: My father was Rapata Ranginui, and my mother was Ahorangi Mihaka.”
Mira furrowed her brow.
“Wait a second, you don’t mean-“
“I do. Ahorangi Mihaka, my mother, was the youngest child of Queen Kendra the Great!”
Mira clasped her hands together in excitement.
“That’s so cool!” Mira squealed. “So your grandmother’s husband Eteka was my grandfather’s brother, so that would make us…”
They both did the math in their heads.
“That makes us second cousins.” Manako answered. “I think.”
“Yeah, I think that’s it.” Mira affirmed. “Of course, we could probably just ask your sister to double-check our math when we meet her. Speaking of Makara…”
Here we go. Manako had seen this coming.
“Look,” he said. “You can ask all the questions you want, Mira. But I can’t do justice to Maka’s work. You’ve just gotta see it for yourself, you know?”
“I know the feeling.” Mira said. “That’s why I spent so much time at the Science Academy. The Universe is just full of incredible things that just have to be seen to be believed. Like the Dimensional Horror in the Kel-Azan Republic.”
“Or the Eye of Aarran.” Manako added.
“Don’t forget the subterranean civilization on Isomon-3.”
“What about that First Hyperspace War battlefield in the Koreth’s Rift Sector? You know, the one where the Hiigarans got their famous Siege Cannon?”
“Oh, I remember that. That thing is almost as dangerous as the Paradox.”
At Mira’s last word, the atmosphere in the elevator suddenly got awkward. Mira seemed to realize she’d touched one of Manako’s nerves and bit her lip anxiously.
“You’re uh…” Manako picked his words carefully. “You’re not one of those people who thinks the Paradox is still alive, are you?”
Mira looked around the elevator uncomfortably.
“And you’re not?” She replied cautiously. “We’ve all seen those videos, cousin. I can’t convince myself she’s really dead. How can you?”
“How can you convince yourself she’s still alive?”
…
Maka’s chamber had to be kept as clean as possible to avoid contamination. A living CPU is useless if it’s sick, after all. Because Maka’s consciousness was currently dispersed throughout the ship’s Supercomputer banks, her body was completely unconscious and kept suspended in a Stasis pod. Mira ran her hands all over the unit, admiring the incredible technology that kept Maka’s body functioning while her mind was quite literally elsewhere. Manako just stood back and watched as Mira explored the room like a little kid, all the while making sure he didn’t obstruct any of the security cameras in the room. While Mira examined Maka’s integration system, Manako telepathically contacted his sister. She responded immediately:
So is this Mira? The scientist who wants to see me in combat, right?
Yes she is. Don’t worry, sis. I won’t let her pull your pod apart.
Very funny, bro. Have you read her memories yet?
She hasn’t given me the chance. I’ll let you know the minute I get in her head.
Finally, Mira said:
“The scientific reports don’t describe your work accurately, Manako. It’s almost like… like your sister is well and truly part of the ship.”
At once, Maka’s voice gently emitted from the intercom speaker, causing Mira to jump with surprise.
“Actually, Cousin Mira, it would be more accurate to say that ‘I am the ship now.’ The Mahuika is just as much a part of me as I am it.”
Mira looked awestruck.
“Fascinating! Can you explain how that works?”
“Well, it’s kind of hard to explain.” Maka’s voice said. “The Mahuika feels exactly like my body does… it feels like me, and I can feel and sense and perceive the outside world through it. Think of the Sensors Suite like the sensory cortex of my brain, the nuclear powerplant is my heart, and the whole ship chassis is kind of like my skeleton. I know it’s not a perfect translation, but what I’m trying to get at is that… This ship is my body now… it’s me. I am the Mahuika.”
Mira finally found one of the security cameras and looked directly into it.
“So… am I making eye contact with you right now?”
“Yes… but it’s very off-putting. It feels like you’re standing close enough to kiss me.”
Mira folded her arms and appeared to be hit by a profound thought.
“So… if the Mahu- I mean, if you go into combat and get hit by weapons fire, would it feel like you’ve been, oh I dunno, shot or stabbed?”
“I haven’t seen combat yet.” Maka answered. “But rest assured, I’ve thrown up a large number of both physical and mental defenses against such a scenario. Pain and mental fatigue will not impede my ability to control this ship during battle. Besides, nobody’s warned you about how protective my brother is for me. He’s the most effective shield I’ll ever have.”
Mira turned around just in time to see Manako blushing a little. He recovered and said:
“Speaking of combat, Mira. You were warned we’re flying towards the Galactic Front Line, right? We’ll be fighting the Beast before too long.”
Mira folded her arms and gave Manako a determined look.
Team Role: Deputy Leader / Radio Telephone Operator
Date of Birth: June 30, 1993 (Age 22)
Place of Birth: Lansing, Michigan
Biography: Blake Alexander Robinson is the oldest son of US President J.D. Robinson. (2005-2013) He had a long-distance relationship with Japanese Princess Asami Yamato until the Soviet Union invaded Japan in December 2006. In 2009, Robinson joined the United States Army with the explicit purpose of going to the Japanese front to find his missing girlfriend. Robinson completed training and arrived on the frontline in late 2011 and reunited with Asami after a yearlong search. She was renamed Chihiro Tachibana after being expelled from the Imperial Family and banished from the Palace. Robinson and Tachibana took command of the Defenders of Hiroshima during the final day of the siege and held the city until the war ended on December 22, 2012.
After his father left office on January 20, 2013, Robinson lived in Nagasaki with Chihiro until February 2015 when both of them were contacted by the XCOM project and recruited. They were active combatants during the Invasion before being captured and interred by ADVENT from late 2015 to early 2035. After being rescued from captivity during Operation Gatecrasher, Blake has returned to active duty with XCOM. While Chihiro Tachibana claims that Blake is her husband, she not legally married to him.
Physical Description: Blake is five feet six inches tall and weighs roughly 185 pounds. He has light brown skin due to his mixed ancestry. He is half African and half Caucasian. Blake has short curly black hair and dark brown eyes. He has a large scar running along the left side of his throat. Blake received Gene Mods through XCOM’s Genetics Lab during the 2015 Invasion.
Personality Assessment: Blake is overly cautious and very thoughtful. He is a loyal team player and a competent soldier. Blake is also known for being very studious and is generally thought to be one of the most intelligent members of the team, second only to Yutaka Yamamoto. Blake is a textbook overplanner, choosing to stay quiet and listen to what everyone else has to say before volunteering his own thoughts. In preparing for combat, Blake almost never comes up with plans on his own, choosing instead to listen to everyone else’s ideas and adopting the one he thinks is best.
Additional Notes (Celebrity Status): Blake is considered a national hero in Japan due to his involvement in the (successful) defense of Hiroshima in 2012. He enjoys this to a limited degree, and prefers to draw people's attention to soldiers who were wounded or killed in the Siege.
Additional Notes (Genetic Modifications):
Brain: none
Eyes:
Hyper Reactive Pupils: Blake’s aim improves after missing a shot.
Chest:
Adrenaline Surge: Blake’s combat strength and abilities improve after being injured.
Skin: none
Legs:
Muscle Fiber Density: Blake has superhuman leg strength, can jump roughly thirty feet into the air, and survive a fall from roughly the same height unharmed.
Full Name: Chihiro Tachibana (Formerly known as: Chiho Tatsuya, Princess Asami Yamato)
Rank: Corporal
Callsign: Blue Dragon
Team Role: Sniper
Date of Birth: May 2, 1996 (Age 19)
Place of Birth: Kyoto, Japan
Biography: Born in Kyoto and raised in the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Former Princess Chihiro Tachibana is currently the sole surviving member of the Japanese Imperial Family. During World War Three, she was ejected from the Imperial Family and stripped of her Royal Status as punishment for running away from home and joining the military without parental permission. She fought on the Japanese front of World War Three from 2008 until the conflict ended in 2012. Alongside five others, she took command of the defenders of Hiroshima in 2012 and is still celebrated as a Japanese national hero for her defense of the city.
When the 2015 invasion started Chihiro and Blake were the loudest voices of opposition to Project Jericho, and attempted to sabotage the project at least once. Due to her extensive experience fighting behind enemy lines, Chihiro spent most of the 2015 Alien Invasion working as a Covert Operative for XCOM. She undermined the operations of the secret society EXALT all over the world before her cover was blown during the First Battle of Pyongyang. Chihiro was away on another mission when XCOM HQ fell to the aliens. She helped relocate Kotori Sato to Hawaii and witnessed the birth of Jericho before being captured by forces of the newly founded ADVENT Coalition. Placed in Suspended Animation for 20 years, Chihiro was subjected to a series of experiments as part of the AVATAR Project that caused her to develop Psionic Aptitude. Chihiro was rescued from captivity during Operation Gatecrasher. She has now returned to combat duty. While Blake Robinson claims Chihiro is his wife, he is not legally married to her.
Physical Description: Chihiro considers herself to be shorter and skinnier than most people her age. She is five feet two inches tall and weighs 125 pounds. As a former member of the Yamato Dynasty, her Japanese ancestry and heritage goes back an alleged 1,500 years. Chihiro has a round scar on the right side of her neck. (Gunshot wound) She has straight black hair that is lopsided. On the right side of her head, Chihiro’s hair is roughly waist-length. On the left side, her hair is cut short to just above shoulder-length. (During the Siege of Hiroshima, Chihiro’s left-hand pigtail was cut off by a Soviet soldier) Chihiro often wears her long hair in a left-side braid. Her eyes are a deep shade of blue. Chihiro received Gene Mods through XCOM’s Genetics Lab during the 2015 Invasion.
Personality Assessment: Chihiro is a reckless hothead with no discernable sense of self-preservation. Chihiro has a “shoot first-question later” philosophy in battle, (accompanied by a very itchy trigger finger) and is also very hyperactive and impulsive in her day-to-day activities. Chihiro shows little concern for the consequences of her actions, and seems to have that delusion of invincibility shared by most teenagers. She will always act on instinct, and tends to make life-affecting choices on a whim.
Additional Notes (Celebrity Status): Chihiro was one of the leaders of the defense of Hiroshima at the end of World War Three. She is generally considered to be a national hero by most Japanese people. She is embarrassed by this, as she believes all of the credit for the “Storm-Breaker Defense” should be given to the now-deceased Kotori Sato.
Additional Notes (Politics): Chihiro Tachibana is a controversial figure in Japanese politics. Shortly before the end of World War Three, she was expelled from the Imperial Family and stripped of her royal status as punishment for illegally enlisting in the military. The Japanese government-in-exile belives Chihiro has redeemed herself since then and are actively trying to have her royal status restored. Chihiro has expressed opposition to the idea on multiple occasions, keeping this political movement in check. However, if the ADVENT Coalition is overthrown and the original Japanese government is restored, the issue will have to be revisited.
Additional Notes (The Gift): Chihiro Tachibana possesses an “artificial Gift” induced by ADVENT scientists. She is equipped with a 2035-Era Mindshield. (Older Mindshields are made from Ethereal remains, and are much more powerful than the newer ones which are made from Sectoids.)
Additional Notes (Genetic Modifications):
Brain:
NeuralDamping: Chihiro is highly resistant to Psionic attack. If Chihiro is successfully Mind Controlled, the control is cancelled and she is rendered comatose for several hours.
Eyes:
DepthPerception: Chihiro’s accuracy improves drastically when she has the high ground.
Chest: none
Skin: none
Legs:
AdaptiveBoneMarrow: Chihiro can recover from wounds and injuries twice as fast as a normal person.
March 8, 2028
Jumia Star System, The Galactic Front Line, Blorg Commonality
Manako wasn’t getting much sleep tonight. It wasn’t because of nerves, though. This wasn’t his first stint in the Galactic Front Line. Ever since the Mahuika and her escort fleet arrived at the front there had been a general atmosphere of nervous tension throughout the ship. Everybody was jumpy, on edge, waiting nervously for first contact with the Beast. Meanwhile, the Mahuika continued to soar through the stars, moving determinately towards her objective.
Amon Gate was an old Hyperspace Gate built by an extragalactic race called the Progenitors. They had conquered and ruled over the entire galaxy before abruptly vanishing about ten thousand years ago. While the Progenitors themselves were gone, their technology survived. Progenitor ruins scattered all over the Galaxy concealed massive troves of knowledge and tech that was now being dug up and reverse-engineered by both sides of this terrible war.
Manako shuddered at the memory of the last time his fleet had encountered a Beast-Infected Keeper. Fully automated and uncrewed, Progenitor Keepers by themselves were already a nightmare to deal with, but give them an organic brain and a direct connection to the Beast hive mind, and they become the terror of the stars. Three years ago, Manako and Maka been part of a Triple Alliance strike fleet that had been pinned down by a single infected Keeper. The fleet itself consisted of over three thousand warships. When the battle was over, only half-a-dozen frigates had survived by Hyperspacing to safety. The rest of the strike group was annihilated. Manako and Maka had both narrowly escaped death that day.
Luckily, the Mahuika’s first combat mission would take her into a region of space not known for Progenitor relics. While the Blorg Commonality had been the first to fall to the Beast, their species was not out of the fight just yet. Several Blorg armadas had concentrated around the Amon Hyperspace Gate and the enclave were holding out heroically against the Beast siege. It was the Mahuika’s mission to break that siege and lift the pressure on their allies.
...Nope. This wasn't working. I'm still awake.
Reviewing old mission information wasn’t cutting it. No matter how much backstory and context he read through, Manako just wasn’t falling asleep. Reluctantly, he looked over at his alarm clock. He had been lying awake in his cot for nearly six hours. Frustrated, he reached out telepathically for the one person he knew he could talk to right now.
Really, bro? I’m in the middle of some sensor calibrations.
In other words, you’re looking at the pretty stars. I’ve been in your head all your life, Maka. I know when you’re bored.
Never could hide it, could I?
Kinda helps that you’re within arm’s reach of me.
The Stasis tube containing the unconscious body of Manako’s twin sister was only a few Bios away from him. He had been keeping his bunk bed in the Supercomputer Core ever since joining the Mahuika’s crew. While she tirelessly managed and maintained the Mahuika, Manako managed and maintained the many systems and subsystems that kept his sister alive. Manako’s overpowering urge to make sure his sister was safe was amplified by his Gift. If Maka felt even the slightest bit uncomfortable, he would know right away. Once in a while, he wondered if Maka thought he was pampering her. She almost always answered with a “yes.”
Maka’s body was motionless in the Stasis tube, but one of the security cameras in the corner slowly turned and refocused its lens on Manako while he sat upright and threw his blankets aside. Telepathically, he continued the conversation with Makara:
I can’t sleep.
That scientist Mira still bugging you?
Yup. She still won’t let me touch her.
Wow, bro! Even in your head that sounds creepy.
Shut up. You know what I mean.
Of course, Maka knew what her brother was upset about. Ever since coming aboard, Manako had been itching for a chance to quite literally “lay a finger” on Mira. That was all he needed to do to use his unique Psionic power and instantly learn all of Mira’s history and memories. It would make interacting with her a lot easier, since Manako would then hold all the cards.
But Mira wouldn’t let her guard down. Always on alert, she seemed to be actively avoiding physical contact with Manako; sidestepping him in the hallways, coldly refusing to return handshakes, and pulling away from even the lightest touch on the shoulder. When he was younger and still figuring out his powers, Manako had learned the hard way about how people reacted to unwelcome touching. But this was different. Mira wasn’t acting like someone who was trying to avoid unwanted contact...
Maka, I think she knows.
How could she? Your special power isn’t as obvious as mine.
I don't know. What if she's Gifted, too? Maybe she can hear us-
Stop.
No, seriously, Maka. What if Mira-
Manako! I said “STOP!” Listen! Do you hear that!?
For a moment, Manako broke off his telepathic conversation and stood up. He paced around the Supercomputer Core slowly, trying to pick up an audible noise.
“I don’t hear anything.” Manako admitted aloud.
No. Sound’s not coming from inside. It’s faint, hundreds of thousands of Kios away… It’s a distress call! Manako, I’m gonna forward this to the bridge! You should wake up the Captain!
…
Manako got to the bridge at roughly the same time as Mira herself. She set up her laptop in a nearby sensors terminal and said:
“I picked up a lot of activity in the Nerve Center. I figured you and your sister were onto something.”
Manako was about to answer when Captain Enoka returned to the bridge as well.
“Whoever’s sending out that distress call isn’t Triple Alliance.” The Captain said. “Our operating procedures forbid sending out distress calls on the Galactic Front Line.”
“Precisely.” Manako added. “It could draw in the Beast. We need to find the source of the signal and shut it down!”
While the bridge crew moved to their action stations and began to strap down their safety lines, Manako spoke to the ceiling.
“Maka! Please tell me you’ve got some more information for us.”
“I do.” Maka’s voice was calm and monotone, which made everybody on the bridge feel a little calmer. “The distress signal is coming from the northern border of the Micore Empire and the Blorg Commonality. It’s in the Blorg code. Translating now:”
A male computerized voice began to speak through the intercom system.
“This is the Blorg Friendship Invitation. We are the lead vessel in the refugee convoy fleeing the planet Mirovandia. We are under attack by Infected warships! We have lost our escort and are unarmed! Please assist! We are carrying thousands of Blorg refugees! Someone HELP US!! PLEASE HELP US!!”
Maka had been doing some calculations while the recording played.
“I’ve determined that Invitation and the rest of the refugee fleet are less than five light-years from our current position. It will take us mere minutes to reach them via Short Jump. I detect fifteen ships in the convoy. They are all unarmed. Furthermore, I detect an infected Carrier Strike Group nearby. It appears to be a mixed force of Hiigaran, Blorg, Amadii, Vanian, and Triple Alliance ships. Some four-thousand-five-hundred vessels altogether.”
Captain Enoka stepped up onto the dais and addressed everybody on the bridge.
“We can’t afford to let this lie! The Beast will convert those refugees into Biomatter. We cannot, under any circumstances, allow this to happen!”
In the back of Manako’s mind, Maka’s thoughts drifted lazily through.
He doesn’t have to sell this mission to me! I’ve had enough shakedown time! Let’s go kill the Beast!
Manako puffed out his chest and said proudly:
“My sister is ready for a fight, sir! Let’s show the Beast what the upgraded Mahuika can do!”
While the Triple Alliance Flagship changed course to intercept the infected fleet, Enoka, Mira, and Manako all went to work. Captain Enoka put out a call for reinforcements. Mira transmitted a report on the mission to Triple Alliance Science Command, and Manako did a final inspection of the weapon’s control stations, making sure that his sister could override crew input during a real emergency.
Biography: 3500 child soldiers fought against the Soviets at the Second Battle of Obama in 2011. Only 15 lived to tell about it and Tsubaki Endo is one of them. Tsubaki will tell anyone who listens about how Blake Robinson and Chihiro Tachibana saved her life during that battle. In December 2012, Tsubaki fought alongside many future XCOM soldiers at the Siege of Hiroshima and earned several decorations for her bravery.
((ADDITIONAL NOTE provided by Blake Robinson: she wasn’t being brave, she was being stupid.))
Tsubaki was severely injured by a Soviet landmine right before the December 22 ceasefire went into effect. Both of her legs were amputated as a result. History books generally tout her as the “last casualty of World War Three.” Blake Robinson used up the very last of his father's political influence to help Tsubaki aquire a set of technologically advanced prosthetic legs about a year after the war ended. Because Tsubaki was underage when the aliens invaded, she was not brought into XCOM, despite her extensive combat experience. After Earth fell to the Aliens, Tsubaki joined the East Asian Resistance and undermined the ADVENT Coalition in Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Russian Far East for over a decade. At some point, she salvaged a new set of prosthetic legs from what remained of XCOM's SPARK project. Because her new legs were originally meant for use on a combat mec, she enjoys a slightly greater range of mobility and flexibility than most people do.
When asked about her motives for joining the Resistance, Tsubaki always said she wanted to "join XCOM and become a Stormbreaker like Blake-kun and Chihiro-kun." (Her words) She was invited to join XCOM in 2026 and joined the Stormbreakers in January of 2035. Blake and Chihiro were very surprised to find her when they rejoined the team a few months later, but were ultimately quite happy to have her as a teammate.
Fought in Hiroshima as a Defender.
Was not part of XCOM during the Jericho Schism, but claims to (retroactively) oppose Jericho's creation because "That's what Blake-kun and Chihiro-kun would have wanted." (Again, her words.)
Physical Description: Tsubaki Endo is about five feet three inches tall and weighs roughly 140 pounds. She has mixed Japanese/Korean ancestry. Her hair and eyes have both been altered so that she bears a slight resemblance to Chihiro Tachibana. Tsubaki’s eyes are naturally green, but she wears bright blue contact lenses. Her hair is naturally brown but is dyed black. Both of Tsubaki’s legs are amputated above the knee, a result of her stepping on a Soviet landmine mere seconds before the end of World War Three. Tsubaki’s legs have been replaced with a pair of cybernetic prosthetics that allow her a greater range of motion and flexibility as real Human legs.
Personality Assessment: Tsubaki is every hyper-obsessed fan seen in Old World movies and television. She hero-worships Blake and Chihiro and will happily do whatever they say. (Even if they said “Go away”) Tsubaki aspires to be just like Chihiro and has built a shrine to the former princess in a dark corner of the Avenger. Chihiro seems to know it’s there, but hasn’t done anything about it. Central Officer Bradford thinks that age has tempered her obsession a bit, but still considers it to be a problem.
Biography: Before the war, Jake was one of the most prominent brew masters in Australia. While many in Perth enjoyed his homemade beer, the Australian government prosecuted him for selling beer without the proper permits. To pay off his legal debts, Jake joined the military and was deployed to the Japanese Front of World War Three. He was separated from his unit during the Sendai Campaign and fell in with an international squad that eventually became the Stormbreakers. He famously convinced a whole platoon of Soviet soldiers to surrender to the Japanese during the Pacification of Kagawa by walking over to their lines under a white flag and sharing his (extremely potent) homebrew with them.
Near the end of the war, Jake's relationship with his fellow Stormbreakers was strained by his habit of "making a pass" at any and every woman he saw. Yutaka Yamamoto and Yukiko Takahashi tried to convince Jake to join them in their joint betrayal of Japan, they tempted him with a "beautiful Russian woman of his choice." Jake quietly strung them along by pretending to be picky, demanding to see more and more pictures of Russian women. Behind the scenes, he blew Yutaka and Yukiko's cover, revealing their betrayal to the Stormbreakers.
After WWIII ended, Jake returned to Perth and entered Hospitality School. He planned to open up his own bar, but never got the chance because the Aliens came out into the open in April 2015. Jake was recruited to XCOM after Holly Smith recommended him to the Commander. While Jake was a member of the Stormbreakers, he spent much of the Invasion operating alongside other squads in a support role. Jake is the only soldier to serve at least one mission in every XCOM squad.
He survived the Alien assault on XCOM headquarters and helped relocate Kotori Sato to Hawaii, but he was captured by the ADVENT Coalition after the birth of Jericho. Jake was rescued from Suspended Animation in 2035 as part of Operation Gatecrasher. As an XCOM soldier, Jake has proven himself a skilled marksman and a reliable teammate. In between combat missions, he keeps the Avenger’s bar well stocked with homemade beer. Once in a great while, the "brew" tastes so bad that Jake is accused of serving "Soylent Green" to the crew as an inside joke.
((DR. TYGAN’S NOTE: Commander… did you really give him permission to brew alcohol in my lab!?))
Physical Description: At six feet nine inches tall, Jake is the tallest Stormbreaker. He is also the heaviest, coming in at nearly 250 pounds of muscle. Jake is a black man with brown eyes and a bald head. The left side of his face is covered by a Maori Te Moko tattoo. Jake received Gene Mods through XCOM’s Genetics Lab during the 2015 Invasion.
Personality Assessment: Jake Green is a known womanizer, and has made a pass at every female soldier in XCOM at least once. Chief Engineer Lily Shen has been avoiding him since he came aboard. Every female Stormbreaker has been approached by him multiple times and yet he is somehow still single. Surprisingly, Jake’s cool attitude and outgoing demeanor have earned him a very large circle of friends. He remains on good terms with nearly all members of the Avenger's crew.
Additional Notes (Celebrity Status): Jake is a founding member of the Stormbreakers. He is considered a National Hero in Japan. He thoroughly enjoys this and has been caught exploiting this status to “get the girls” on many occasions.
Additional Notes (Genetic Modifications):
1. Brain:
· Neural Damping: Jake is highly resistant to Psionic attack. If Jake is successfully Mind Controlled, the control is cancelled and he is rendered comatose for several hours.
2. Eyes:
· Depth Perception: Jake’s accuracy improves drastically when he has the high ground.
3. Chest:
· Adrenal Neurosympathy: During combat, Jake’s adrenal glands will overload, causing his body to emit pheromones that will trigger a powerful adrenaline rush in all nearby Humans.
4. Skin:
· Iron Skin: Jake’s body is extremely resistant to physical injury.
5. Legs:
· Muscle Fiber Density: Jake has superhuman leg strength, can jump roughly thirty feet into the air, and survive a fall from roughly the same height unharmed.
Biography: Originally, Isis Dekker’s father had wanted a son. If he was disappointed in his daughter’s gender, then Mr. Dekker never vocalized it. He brought Isis into his auto repair shop to work at his side when she was just 7 years old. Isis soon found her talent for mechanical work and her father promoted her to the rank and role of apprentice before she turned 10. In between work and school, Isis passed her free time by building her own motorcycle from scratch in a barn.
When World War Three erupted in 2006, the 11-year-old Isis was itching for a fight with the Soviets, but the Belgian government had no interest in joining the war. Isis’ father encouraged her to study aircraft and train to become an airplane mechanic with the end goal of joining an Allied Air Force. At some point in 2010, Isis sweet-talked her way into a job repairing civilian passenger jets at Antwerp International Airport. She remained in this position for two years, growing more and more frustrated with how long the war was dragging on. In March of 2012, the German military suffered an extremely serious defeat against the Soviets at the Battle of Minsk, and the German government put out a call for volunteers. With her father’s blessing, Isis crossed the border and joined the German Luftwaffe. She was sent to a training facility to learn how to repair and maintain Eurofighters. Before she could complete her training, however, the war ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, Isis could not return home, as she was contractually obligated to remain in the Luftwaffe for another three years.
Isis was part of the Allied occupation of Western Russia from 2013 to 2015. She was stationed at an air force base near Sevastapol and lived on the Crimean Peninsula until the Alien Invaders came out into the open in April of 2015.
Due to her physical proximity to an XCOM airbase and preexisting knowledge of air combat systems, Isis was recruited to XCOM almost as soon as the Invasion got underway. Isis spent most of the war servicing XCOM’s fleet of Raven-class interceptors. After Earth was conquered, Isis survived the alien assault on XCOM headquarters and helped relocate Kotori Sato to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. However, this plan fell apart when the Aliens counter-detected the North Korean submarine Enforcer during its journey to Hawaii. Isis was the only XCOM soldier to escape capture during the Battle of Hanapepe, where Kotori gave birth to Jericho. Isis took Kotori’s baby and ran away from the battlefield while behind her Kotori was killed and her escorts captured.
Evading both the aliens and the soldiers of the newly founded ADVENT Coalition, Isis and Jericho lived on the island of Kauai for eight years. Isis made her home in a small village as far inland as she could get. She and Jericho would only descend towards the cities on the coastline on the rarest of occasions. Because she was not Gifted, Isis was unable to teach Jericho how to use or control her own considerable powers; instead, she encouraged the young girl to experiment by herself in the dense Hawaiian forest. Supposedly, Jericho was quite happy to do so.
In the summer of 2023, one of Jericho’s experiments went awry. She released a massive amount of Psionic energy into the environment around herself, causing thousands of flowers to bloom simultaneously. The energy wave attracted the attention of Kon-Mon Dessurik, the Elder’s Chosen Warlock. According to witness reports, he teleported directly into downtown Wailua and massacred the local Resistance fighters before advancing into the forest. Isis saw him coming and put up a fight in a heroic delaying action, shouting for Jericho to escape. The 8-year-old girl fled into the forest and was not seen by anyone again until 2035. Outraged at losing his quarry, The Chosen Warlock settled for Isis instead. He took her and teleported away.
The leadership of both XCOM and the American Resistance analyzed the witness reports and, with great reluctance, assumed that Isis and Jericho were both dead. The American Resistance was extremely surprised when they found Isis alive in an ADVENT prison in 2030. The American Resistance staged a mass breakout from this prison and Isis was freed. She operated as a member of the American Resistance for a few years until XCOM leadership learned about her survival. She was quickly recruited to XCOM and returned to the Avenger in 2032. Isis was then invited to join the Stormbreakers by Ignatius Petoskey. During Operation Gatecrasher, Isis led the squad known as Phantom 6-3, which carried out the rescue of several Stormbreakers from Suspended Animation while XCOM’s Commander was simultaneously rescued by Menace 1-5.
Since XCOM no longer has a fleet of aircraft, Isis has been retrained as a Combat Hacker and now works on the capture and study of alien technology alongside Chief Engineer Lily Shen. She also helps to reverse-engineer ADVENT weapons technology and has used that knowledge to develop one of XCOM’s most specialized weapon systems: the Skulljack. She carries one at all times and has the highest success rate with it, having extracted valuable intel directly out of the brains of no less than 5 ADVENT Officers.
Was at Basic Combat Training during the Siege of Hiroshima.
Supported Project Jericho. Isis is very fond of the girl and considers Jericho to be “somewhere between my friend and my family.”
Physical Description: Isis is a brown-skinned European of mixed heritage. DNA analysis suggests her ancestry goes back to the time and place of the Trans-Saharan slave trade, suggesting Isis is either an Arab or an African. She is five feet two inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. She has straight black hair and brown eyes. Following her encounter with the Chosen Warlock, Isis has a series of scars on her right arm, marking the spot where he grabbed her.
Personality Assessment: Isis is a social butterfly, and is on friendly terms with all fourteen of her fellow Stormbreakers. She is often the connecting bridge between team members who don’t get along, such as Chihiro Tachibana and Yutaka Yamamoto. Isis seems to have a knack for mediation and is more than happy to help people talk through their interpersonal problems. The downside of this attitude is that Isis is a very non-confrontational person. In combat, she is usually the last member of the team to fire their weapon in anger, and will be the first to cease fire.
Additional Notes (Jericho Project): Isis raised Jericho from her infancy until the age of eight. She knows Jericho better than anyone else. Central Officer Bradford chose to keep Isis in reserve in anticipation of the day when Jericho finally returned to XCOM, when it would become Isis’ job to re-integrate Jericho into the organization.
My Sistership: A Short Stellaris Story
Chapter Three
March 8, 2028
Hijeroscant Star System, The Galactic Front Line, Blorg Commonality
Travelling through Hyperspace was without a doubt, Maka’s favorite thing to do since becoming Unbound. The enormous entirety of the Universe whistled past her at incomprehensible speed, yet every exit point back to normal space was laid out neatly and plainly before her. The sound of reality itself racing by was oddly reminiscent of music. Almost like a familiar song heard from very far away.
Dropping out of Hyperspace was like doing a swan dive into a deep pool. The change in environment was jarring, yet not unpleasant. Maka was bathed in the warm light and gentle breeze of the blue Hijeroscant Star. All around her, nearly three thousand Triple Alliance warships rematerialized around the Mahuika. For Maka, the sensation of so many Hyperspace exits felt like she was being buffeted about by a warm wind. She understood completely why the Bentusi had chosen to forsake terrestrial life and become stellar nomads. This was wonderful, this was bliss!
It was with extreme reluctance that Maka finally took note of the Beast Fleet. Her sensor array picked out each individual ship and fed the targeting information to every relevant computer and subsystem within Maka’s body. Commands and orders radiated out and away from her as the Triple Alliance fleet began to deploy and move towards the convoy of refugee ships. The Beast recovered from the shock of a large enemy strike force appearing out of nowhere and had started to redeploy its own fleet.
Maka had seen infected ships before, but never in this way… never as an Unbound.
All told, there were some four hundred infected starships in the vicinity of the Mahuika. Each vessel was partially covered in a reddish-gray mass that looked like leathery hide. Under the right lighting, Maka could see exposed capillaries and nerves running through some infected ships, having taken the place of wires and cables. Life signs on each ship were all over the chart. Maka’s sensors picked up Hiigaran, Blorg, Taiidan, Partogan, Levakian, Assurian, and Amadii life signs on all of the infected ships, but the “crew compliment” readout said zero for each vessel. On the Mahuika’s sensors, infected ships registered as organic lifeforms, so Maka had to quickly create and deploy a macro command that would re-designate all Beast ships from “Wildlife” to “Hostile Warship” on her screens.
Against this backdrop, Maka saw the refugee convoy. A line of some twelve unarmed ships were barreling through the system towards a nearby Hyperspace Gate while the enemy gave chase. Three infected convoy ships brought up the rear. Before the Triple Alliance fleet could get into position, an infected Hiigaran Ramming Frigate fired up its afterburners and lunged towards the rearmost convoy ship!
An aura of commands and directives erupted from Maka and permeated across the fleet! Commanding the Triple Alliance armada came second-nature to her, it felt as simple and easy as visualizing what she wanted! At her word, a strike wing of Fighters and Corvettes peeled away from the main fleet and began to chase the enemy Ramming Frigate! With a little satisfaction, Maka watched as the enemy vessel was torn to ribbons by weapons fire!
She wasn’t, however, expecting the blood.
The Beast ship reacted to being attacked exactly like a wild animal would. Its thrusters fired aimlessly in all directions, as though in a panic. The infected ship broke off the attack and fled back towards the safety of its own fleet… which had a reaction of its own.
Up until now, the Beast had been focused solely on attacking the unarmed transports, but now that the Triple Alliance fleet had proven itself to be a threat, the infected fleet was turning their guns on the Mahuika and her escort fleet! Thinking fast, Maka rearranged her ships into a defensive formation just before the assault began!
All Triple Alliance ships, this is Fleet Command. Assume Wall Formation and standby to activate Defense Fields on my mark.
The huge armada reorganized itself quickly. Super Capital ships like Heavy Cruisers, Battleships, and Destroyers all formed a screen in front of the fleet, while fighters, Corvettes, and Frigates hung behind the wall, ready to dart out from behind the protective screen and strike.
Moving like an unorganized horde, the Beast fleet descended towards the Triple Alliance strike fleet! Maka waited and ordered her own ships to hold position and hold fire. They needed to wait and let the enemy get a little closer…
Fifty thousand Kios… Thirty… Twenty…
About ten seconds before the infected warships entered weapons range, Maka ordered her fleet to activate the most potent technology the Triple Alliance had to offer:
Semitransparent blue spheres began to fade into existence all over the Triple Alliance formation. Generated deep within the hulls of the Super Capital ship, nearly a thousand Defense Field bubbles overlapped with one another and enveloped the entire armada! Beast ships up and down the line opened fire with every weapon they had, and the battle began!
Maka watched with no small amount of satisfaction as millions of Mass Driver rounds were deflected away from her fleet by the Defense Fields. Energy Cannon rounds fizzled out harmlessly hundreds of Bios from their targets, and Ion Beams were scattered harmlessly in all directions. Missiles and torpedoes were unaffected by the Defense Fields and passed through with no trouble, only to be intercepted and destroyed by the point-defense systems of the Triple Alliance fleet.
Defense Fields online. All ships, pick your targets and wait for Field failure.
Defense Fields were a relatively new technology. The power requirements for each generator was so immense that a field could only be maintained for a few seconds. Seven seconds on a good day, five on a bad one. But in the realm of space combat, being invulnerable to enemy fire for five to seven seconds could be a huge advantage.
Sure enough, just two seconds before the Defense Fields failed, about half of the infected warships suddenly ceased fire. Their weapons were either out of ammunition or overheated. Maka had allowed her enemy to waste their strength on an ineffective opening salvo. Now, it was her turn!
The Defense Field flickered and went out! Then, like an apex predator springing forth from its hiding place, the Triple Alliance fleet surged forward and loosed a volley of its own! Weapons of all types were fired and the infected fleet lit up as though it was caught in a lightning storm! Hundreds of Beast ships were cut to ribbons in the initial barrage, sending debris and mangled flesh in all directions!
The Beast fleet dove into the Triple Alliance formation with guns blazing! The two armadas powered into one another and chaos erupted within seconds! Mass Driver rounds flew in all directions, Ion Beams stabbed the void, and swirling clouds of wreckage and debris began to form, obscuring the view. Almost instantly, Maka found herself overwhelmed with combat data! Battle data from thousands of Triple Alliance ships came in at the same time, giving her information on the exact location of every ship, the disposition of their crews, and the status of their weapons! Enemy movement information rapidly clouded Maka’s vision, and the sounds of allied battle chatter battered Maka’s ears:
“Husi Squadron, report in!”
“I’ve got your wing! Target in sight!”
“Squadron achieving local space superiority! Hunt down and pursue stragglers!”
“Launching from Carrier now!”
“Power down to forty percent, sir!”
“It’s looking good here!”
“Sharp left, I’ll take the right.”
“Hey, you missed a spot on the left!”
“Hapaka wing under fire!”
“Turrets tracking, target engaged!”
“Check your aim- WATCH OUT!!”
“Target that explosion and fire!”
“Let’s run’em home!”
“ALERT! THE FLAGSHIP IS UNDER ATTACK! MAHUIKA IS TAKING FIRE!”
That last message caused Maka to focus on something else… the sensation of pain. She felt a very real stinging sensation in her side; instinctively, Maka looked down at the part of her body where the pain was. But of course, Maka was now the Mahuika, so what she really did was re-align her own sensors to examine her hull.
An infected Ion Cannon Frigate had broken through the Flagship’s escort wing and was pouring fire into the Mahuika’s flank! To Maka, it felt like she was being stabbed with a white-hot needle! Instinctively, Maka moved to attack! The Mahuika’s mass drivers roared to life! Thousands of projectiles rocketed away into space before slamming into the offending frigate! The Beast ship spun away into the void, damaged far beyond the ability to fight.
Maka refocused herself. The initial shock of her first fight was wearing off, and now she was bringing all of her new abilities to bear! She wasn’t just the Mahuika’s CPU, she was Fleet Command! Maka made full use of her new bio-circuitry and divided her attention. Processing trillions of packages of data per second, Maka interpreted sensor data, read the tactical situation, commanded ships, and kept track of her own ship/body at the same time! Multitasking like no one ever had before, Maka navigated the battlefield with the skill and finesse of a professional dancer!
Triple Alliance ships began cutting through the Beast! Infected warships were slain with merciless efficiency at Maka’s command. Her super-capital ships flew together in five-by-five X-shaped formations, cutting a swathe of destruction leading directly from the Mahuika to the stricken refugee convoy! This was spectacular! This was going to be an easy victory!
A wonderful musical sound caught Maka’s attention. A Hyperspace signature! Taking her attention off the battle for just a moment, Maka listened to a radio transmission coming from the new arrival. The message was distorted and garbled, but still understandable:
“At… tenshun, Ma-hoo-ee-kah. This is… the Leva-kyn warship Asalele. We have… arrived… with reinforcements from Partoga. Transmit your location… transmit to us… and we will come.” The voice spoke very slowly, and seemed to be distorted.
Before she could respond, Maka heard Manako’s voice in the back of her mind. Although from her perspective, it sounded more like he was standing next to her and talking in her ear.
Maka, something was off about that transmission. Mira, Captain Enoka and I all think the Beast got the jump on our reinforcements. We think you should send a strike wing to the Levakians, just in case.
Maka tight-beamed a reply to the Asalele.
“I’ve dispatched a strike wing of fighters to escort you in. Check your fire as they approach.”
The Asalele’s response was quick and cryptic.
“They come… Good!”
At that moment, Maka’s attention was diverted elsewhere by a formation of allied fighters being outflanked by enemy ships. Turning her gaze away from the Hyperspace signatures, Maka saw a formation of three infected Super-Capital ships trying to force their way towards the Mahuika. The enemy was still several thousand Kios away, but catching this sort of flanking maneuver early was crucial! Maka redirected several dozen Triple Alliance ships to deal with the threat while she brought the Mahuika’s guns to bear! An infected Missile Destroyer loosed a barrage of fire! Nearly three dozen nuclear warheads thundered down onto a Partogan Zivon-Class Heavy Cruiser! Then an infected Hiigaran Carrier closed in for the kill, firing a bright red particle beam at the Zivon, her captain screaming loudly:
“IT’S COMING THROUGH THE HULL!! GET TO THE ESCAPE PODS!!”
Pulverized and battered, the Zivon fell out of formation! Then, after a few seconds, the now-infected Zivon turned its weapons against her own fleet! Confusion reigned in the Triple Alliance lines as the infection began spreading throughout their own ranks. Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Corvettes and Fighters fell out of line before suddenly turning to attack their former comrades. Before three minutes had passed, a gaping hole in the Triple Alliance formation had appeared, and it was just as quickly filled with enemy ships!
All ships, this is Fleet Command. Be advised: Our Vaccine is ineffective. Repeat: The Infection Vaccine is ineffective! Engage the Beast at maximum range, do not let them get close!
All throughout the battlespace, Triple Alliance ships began to cluster together as their lines collapsed. Having recharged their generators, several dozen ships threw up Defense Fields again. The battle lines reformed around these sudden strongpoints as hundreds of small Triple Alliance ships regrouped near the safety of their bigger allies.
At the same time, the Beast fleet began to converge on the Triple Alliance’s weak point. Maka thrust the Mahuika forward towards the gap while commanding several of her own ships to do the same! She no longer saw the battle from the viewpoint of sensor screens and transmissions. Maka was the Mahuika! She was the one soaring through space, projecting firepower across hundreds of Kios and coordinating the movements of a fleet, not the ship. Maka felt each projectile and Ion Beam striking her hull and felt the stinging pinpricks of missile impacts. She was dazed by the brilliant flashes of nuclear explosions and comforted by the warm, soothing touch of a Support Frigate’s repair beams.
In the back of her mind, Maka heard something. Thinking faster and more complexly than any Partogan before, she quickly shuffled through billions of packages of combat data searching for that nagging feeling in the back of her head. Finally, after only two seconds of searching, she found what she was looking for. A combination of sensor data and ship-to-ship transmissions painted a terrifying picture:
Five Hapaka-class starfighters, arranged in an “X” formation, were flying up and away from the main battle. They were closing in on the spot where the Asalele had emerged from Hyperspace.
“Kopen 2-1, this is Kopen 2-4. I have target in visual range. Do you see that hull damage on the ventral side? What happened there?”
“Yeah, 2-4, I see it. Looks like the Asalele took a couple of hits. I’m going to call in the Support Frigates and… hold on, I’m picking up an energy spike!”
“Infection beam! Evasive Maneuvers!”
“HELP!! IT’S GONNA TAKE ME!!”
The Infection Beam jumped from one ship to the next, blasting the entire squadron and sending all of the fighters spinning out of control! The Asalele, a carrier-class vessel, lumbered slowly through space like a predator watching its wounded prey. Now that it was within Maka’s sensor range, she could see the Asalele was fully infected! The carrier’s hull was splattered with freshly-grown muscle and hide. Its voice slipped into the comm channels like a demonic whisper, bone-chilling and unnerving.
“Feed soon.” The Asalele growled.
All five of the fighters stopped tumbling through space. Thrusters firing intensely, the fighters reoriented themselves and charged downwards into the main battle. Maka watched in horror as the squadron target-locked the Mahuika and began to open fire! The sensation of Mass Driver rounds hitting her dorsal spine was already unpleasant, but it was made even worse by the knowledge that those attacking ships had been built and launched by the Mahuika just a few days ago! Maka was being attacked by her own people with her own weapons! It suddenly felt as though this fight had become personal.
Thrusting upwards from the plane of battle, Maka took the Mahuika high above the battlespace and ordered the construction of an Ion Cannon Frigate in her hangar bay! Mass Drivers thundered away, spitting flame and metal into the dark void, scattering the now-infected fighter squadron. Cutting through her own fighters, Maka gave chase while the Asalele fled! Flanked by Dreadnaughts on each side the Mahuika rose above the smoke and flames of the battle below, ready to bring a terrible vengeance upon the Asalele.
But something was wrong. The Mahuika wasn’t moving in the direction Maka wanted. No matter how hard she thrusted towards the Asalele, Maka felt herself drifting to one side… to the port. It felt a little like someone was pressing a stick into her side and forcing her to move. Maka looked down…
An infected Ramming Frigate was pressing hard into the Mahuika’s starboard flank. Afterburners sent a great red plume of exhaust pulsing away into space, and the whole Flagship lurched violently as the infected Hiigaran vessel forced her farther and farther off course.
Seeing the Beast ship latched to her side caused Maka’s skin to crawl. It was just like having a grotesque insect on her arm; and she swatted it just the same. The Mahuika’s Mass Drivers turned and fired, dislodging the enemy ship and sending it tumbling helplessly into the void. Maka refocused her attention on the impact site, hoping to see a black mark on her armor and nothing else.
There was a red splotch… it looked almost like blood. Then came an uncomfortable sensation… Maka felt as though there was something terrible inside her body. The sounds became warped, her mind flickered… and then the pain began.
Biography: Little to nothing is known about Sophie’s backstory prior to her induction into XCOM. She simply refuses to discuss her past. After some cursory investigation, Sophie’s name was found in the South African database of “Missing and Endangered Children.” According to WWIII-era police reports from the city of Pretoria, 12-year-old Sophie was seen getting into a car belonging to a known criminal before she abruptly vanished without a trace for nearly a decade. The Pretoria City Police engaged in a massive manhunt for Sophie and the individual accused of kidnapping her, but neither were ever found and the search was abandoned during the 2015 Alien Invasion for obvious reasons.
Sophie next appeared in 2022 when a group of South African Resistance soldiers were engaging ADVENT Peacekeepers in a firefight in downtown Pretoria. A rocket-propelled grenade flew off-course and destroyed a small house, killing one man inside. Sophie emerged from the wreckage half-naked, crawled on her hands and knees out of the wreckage and made her way to XCOM’s lines. She was taken in by Nigerian soldier Waseme Godongwana and raised as her adoptive child. Waseme taught Sophie how to fight as well, allowing Sophie to join the war as a fully-fledged XCOM soldier in 2025.
In January of 2035, Sophie and Waseme crossed paths with XCOM’s former Chief Engineer, Raymond Shen. They were invited to join the crew of his submarine, the Elpis, and participated in an operation that ended with XCOM’s successful capture and acquisition of an alien cargo ship. The vessel was rebuilt and pressed into service as XCOM’s mobile headquarters under the name “Avenger.” During the battle for control of the ship, Sophie fell under enemy Mind Control, she was forced to shoot and mortally wound her adoptive mother.
Once the Avenger was secure, Sophie was locked inside of the ship’s brig until Chief Engineer Lily Shen was convinced Sophie was no longer under Mind Control. Sophie was allowed to visit Waseme and was present when she passed away. Shortly before Operation Gatecrasher, Sophie was inducted into the Stormbreakers. She helped carry out the rescue of Blake Robinson, Chihiro Tachibana, and all of the other Old World Stormbreakers who were trapped in Suspended Animation.
As an XCOM Soldier, Sophie is a master of urban warfare. She has breached and cleared more buildings than any of our other soldiers. The South African Resistance has even named some of its urban warfare strategies after her. Sophie is best employed in Close-Quarters-Combat situations, and should be considered useless against enemies more than 100 yards away.
Was attending Secondary School during the Siege of Hiroshima.
Was not part of XCOM during the Jericho Schism.
Physical Description: Sophie Ackermann is an Amazonian six feet four inches tall and weighs roughly 170 pounds. As a white South African, she has Dutch and British heritage. Sophie has blonde hair and blue eyes.
Personality Assessment: Sophie Ackermann suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and has been seen having trouble interacting with members of the male sex. If she is in the company of other people, she seems to be fine, but Sophie generally cannot handle one-on-one interactions and should not be left alone with men. She quickly strikes up friendships with women and has a small clique of female soldiers to hang out with between combat deployments.
Rank: Special Officer (United States Secret Service)
Callsign: Nix
Team Role: Advance Recon
Date of Birth: September 2, 1979 (Age 56)
Place of Birth: New York City, New York
Biography: After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Kathleen Walsh was caught up in the same wave of patriotic fervor that struck the rest of the United States. She joined the United States Army on September 12 and saw her first fight against the Soviet Union during the Battle of Kandahar on December 6, 2001. After the Afghan War ended with a Soviet victory in 2003, Kathleen was demobilized and returned to the US.
Outraged and still full of unsatisfied patriotic zeal, Kathleen volunteered to join the United States Secret Service. She spent the next two years of her life weeding out Communists and Soviet sympathizers from US cities. During one such operation, Kathleen's operational security was compromised, and her team was ambushed by Soviet agents. Kathleen made the risky decision to abandon the mission in favor of saving the life of her commander. For her actions, Kathleen was reassigned to work on the Presidential Security Detail. She protected US President George White during the final year of his Administration and carried over to J.D. Robinson when he took power in 2005.
During the Presidency of J.D. Robinson, Kathleen was promoted to Chief of Presidential Security. It was her responsibility to protect both the President and his family. She struck up a friendship with a young Blake Robinson and taught him to fight. On one occasion, she accidentally gave Blake a serious injury and would have lost her job if not for his father's intervention. On November 24, 2005 a man whose name is lost to history attempted to assassinate President Robinson. Agent Walsh took two bullets for the President and saved his life. After several surgeries, Kathleen recovered from her injuries and returned to duty. She continued to protect the President for the remainder of his term in office.
After Robinson stepped down in 2013, Kathleen left the Secret Service and found a job in the private sector. She moved to Boston, Massachusetts and was hired by the owners of Prudential Tower as a security guard. She had the unusual job of asking people to check their guns with her before they were allowed to use a private elevator that went directly to the top floor. She did this job for two years and was paid handsomely for it. If the Old World Governments ever reassert themselves after the ADVENT Coalition is overthrown, Kathleen will be the wealthiest member of XCOM, with a net worth of approximately 15 million American dollars. (2015 value)
In 2015, the Alien Invasion began. Kathleen was served with a draft notice from the United States Army shortly after the aliens came into the open, but chose to ignore her patriotic impulses after her employer offered her a massive pay rise totaling nearly 5 million dollars per year if only she would continue to guard the elevator doors. She remained at her post while alien abductions spread fear and panic throughout the city of Boston. Even though the city was descending into chaos, business at the Prudential Tower carried on as though nothing was wrong.
On June 25, 2015, Covert Operatives working for XCOM positively identified the penthouse suite of Prudential Tower as the worldwide headquarters of the secret society known as EXALT. This 250+ year-old organization harbored misguided sympathies for the alien invaders and sought to acquire alien technology for their own transhumanist goals. The early and middle stages of the 2015 Invasion can best be described as a three-way war between XCOM, EXALT, and the Aliens.
Kathleen was at her post and on-duty when XCOM's Delta Squad commenced their assault on EXALT Headquarters. She was spotted and subdued by two soldiers before she even had a chance to draw her weapon. Kathleen would have been executed on the spot, but XCOM soldier Blake Robinson was participating in the raid and he recognized her. On his recognizance, Kathleen was transported back to XCOM Headquarters where she was interrogated by Doctor Moria Vahlen.
On interrogation, it was determined that Kathleen knew nothing about EXALT and was just one of their pawns. Before Kathleen could be released from custody, however, the aliens attacked and destroyed XCOM Headquarters on June 28, 2015. Kathleen barely survived the assault and escaped separately from the Stormbreakers, Delta Squad, Echo Squad, Doctor Vahlen, or Doctor Shen.
Thanks to her training as both a soldier and a Secret Service agent, along with her intense patriotic zeal, Kathleen quickly recovered from the shock of the past few days and started trying to organize a secret communications network for disconnected military units to use throughout the continental US. To this day, Kathleen Walsh is considered to be the "Mother of the American Resistance."
For the next twenty years, Kathleen goes on and off the radar frequently. As the founding member of the American Resistance, she has carried out hundreds of Guerilla Operations against the ADVENT Coalition and their alien masters. The AVATAR Project was delayed for several years due to her sabotage efforts as well. Current estimates suggest that the Elder's greatest project won't be complete until May of 2035, more than a decade behind schedule thanks to Kathleen's efforts.
In February of 2035, Kathleen was found and approached by Central Officer Bradford, who was putting together a mission called "Operation Gatecrasher" with the objective of rescuing XCOM's Commander and several Old World Stormbreakers from ADVENT Captivity. Hoping to gain direct access to XCOM resources to strengthen the American Resistance, Kathleen said she would only help out if she was formally inducted into XCOM as a Stormbreaker. Ignatius Petoskey inducted her into the team on February 28, 2035. This makes Kathleen the last New World Stormbreaker before the Old World Stormbreakers rejoined the team.
Kathleen contributed two American Resistance fighters to Operation Gatecrasher: Jane Kelly and Ana Ramirez. Kelly survived the mission and has gone on to become the Squad Leader of Menace 1-5. Ramirez was killed in action and her body was recovered by the enemy.
As a member of XCOM, Kathleen Walsh is a natural Squad Leader and would have filled the role of the Stormbreaker's deputy leader if Blake Robinson had not been rescued. She has a soft spot for him though, because she knew him as a child. Kathleen is described by her teammates as "loyal and reliable."
Remained in the US Secret Service throughout all of World War Three.
While she was not a member of XCOM at the time, Kathleen was vaguely aware of Project Jericho during her stay at XCOM HQ and didn't like the idea.
Physical Description: Kathleen is exactly six feet tall and weighs about 160 pounds. An Irish-American, Kathleen has pale skin and reddish-brown hair. She also has green eyes.
Personality Assessment: Kathleen’s head is said to be on a swivel. She is hyperaware of her surroundings and is not easily taken by surprise. She is also quite jumpy and always seems to be looking over her shoulder for hidden assailants. Kathleen is very slow to trust and maintains a small circle of friends, she has a very hard time trusting newcomers or strangers. In turn, Kathleen is fiercely loyal and protective towards anyone she considers a friend or ally.
Biography: The oldest Stormbreaker is a veteran of more wars than anyone cares to count. When he was fifteen years old, Ignatius and his family were forced to leave their home in Dakar due to the local political instability stemming from the rapid decolonization of Africa that occurred in 1960, which saw 17 new countries gain their independence. Ignatius lived in Metropolitan France for several years but never felt at home there. He wanted to go back to West Africa and live with the friends he made there.
Ignatius was alarmed when he learned about civil wars and armed conflicts breaking out in post-colonial Africa, and started working odd jobs around his new hometown of Reims. He saved every last scrap of money he could with the objective of helping a few of his African friends emigrate to France. Unfortunately, Petoskey's plans were put on ice in October of 1962 when the Zudjari Empire launched its invasion of Earth.
((ADDITIONAL NOTE provided by the XCOM Historian)) Because the Zudjari Empire was exhausted and already near collapse when the 1962 Invasion began, their soldiers were underequipped, poorly supplied, and unsupported. Zudjari equipment and vehicles were poorly maintained "jalopies" that carried the invasion of Earth on "a wing and a prayer." The fact that the invasion happened at all is a logistical and strategic miracle. The fact that it ultimately failed is, in hindsight, a surprise to no one. The fact that XCOM was able to successfully cover up the invasion afterward can only be described as "A direct intervention from God."
Due to the chaotic and confusing nature of the 1962 War, neither XCOM nor the French government have official records of what happened to Ignatius Petoskey during the conflict. The only information we have comes from his own mouth:
Ignatius tells us that during the war itself, he genuinely believed the government's official explanation for the huge uptick in violence and disappearances all over the world during what we know as the 1962 Invasion: That the Cuban Missile Crisis had erupted into a full-scale war between the NATO Alliance and the Warsaw Pact, and that all of the physical destruction was caused by this (fake) war, while the global pandemic of the alien "Sleepwalker" infection was just a particularly infectious strain of Ebola. Throughout the conflict, Ignatius followed the French government's orders to shelter in place and wait for the military to rescue him. Ultimately, Ignatius spent the entire 1962 war inside of an Internal Refugee camp under the protection of the French Army.
Once the Zudjari invaders were defeated, Ignatius was allowed to return home, but his time in the Internal Refugee camp changed him. Genuinely believing his homeland had been attacked by the Communists, Ignatius spent all of the prewar money he had saved up to bring five of his African friends to France. Together, they all volunteered to join the French Foreign Legion.
Ignatius' six-man squad went from one Cold War battlefield to the next for nearly 40 years, fighting in the very real wars between NATO and the Warsaw Pact which sprung up in the aftermath of the 1962 War. They saw combat in the Saigon War of 1968, the 1977 Battle of Israel, the 1989 Korean War, the German Liberation of Berlin in 1990, the 2001 US Invasion of Afghanistan, and dozens of UN Peacekeeping operations throughout Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. By the time NATO withdrew from Afghanistan in defeat, Ignatius and all of his friends had been promoted to the rank of Colonel and finally given actual desk jobs. The team was broken up as all of Ignatius' African friends decided to stay in France and take advantage of the best benefit of being a member of the Foreign Legion: French citizenship.
Ignatius either couldn't or wouldn't rest. He had dedicated himself to the cause of fighting the Russians to the point where some people half-jokingly stated he had some kind of blood feud with the Communist Empire. Because he kept such close track of Soviet military actions, Ignatius was alerted in advance to the Russian's intentions to invade Japan in late 2006. He lobbied the leadership of the French Foreign Legion to preposition a regiment in Sapporo as a deterrent against the Russians. However, political obstructions prevented the preemptive defense from happening.
Furious at the French military's lack of action against the Soviets, Ignatius resigned his commission and travelled to Sapporo on his own dime. The local Japan Self-Defense Force commander was confused by Ignatius' offer of help and tried to turn him away, but the conversation was cut short by Soviet paratroopers and cluster bombs.
Ignatius travelled up and down the Japanese Home Islands throughout the entirety of World War Three, volunteering wherever he could and helping everyone he came across. Because of the nature of his assistance, Ignatius spent more time rendering medical assistance and counseling those who needed it. By the time of the Siege of Hiroshima, Ignatius had unintentionally slipped into the role of Army Chaplain and hadn't picked up a weapon of any kind in over a year.
The Siege of Hiroshima was the first time Ignatius participated in a battle as a non-combatant. He drove an ambulance and carried over 200 wounded soldiers to safety before the ceasefire kicked in. The whole experience left Ignatius a changed man. Whatever rage he felt towards the Soviet Union evaporated during the weeks following the end of the war, as Ignatius gave aid and religious service to wounded Soviet soldiers who had survived the conflict at Hiroshima. By the time he returned to France, Ignatius seems to have fallen out of love with war and violence entirely.Ignatius found religion during the peace and spent a year living at a Catholic Seminary, eventually becoming an ordained Catholic priest in February 2015.
When the Alien Invasion began a few months later, Ignatius was served a draft notice from the French Army and he reenlisted as a Chaplain. Ignatius did not see combat during the Invasion, but he went underground as soon as the French military collapsed in June of 2015. After the Alien-supported ADVENT Coalition came to power, the new regime used a massive propaganda campaign to discredit the Old World governments and XCOM. Millions of people left the shantytowns and countryside to live in ADVENT's new Mega-Cities. A few years after this mass migration began, the French Resistance launched its own propaganda campaign to stop people from believing the alien's lies. This blitzkrieg of radio, leaflets, posters, graffiti, and tv messages caused the number of French people entering the Mega-Cities to drop dramatically.
XCOM leadership soon determined that the Anti-ADVENT propaganda campaign was being masterminded by Ignatius. The old man had continued to maintain his vow of pacifism in the face of an alien takeover, and was attempting to win a war of "Hearts and Minds." Ignatius' unique approach to Guerilla warfare was so interesting to XCOM leadership that Doctor Raymond Shen personally tracked him down and asked Ignatius to join XCOM. Not only did Ignatius agree, he brought a significant portion of the French Resistance with him, bolstering XCOM's forces.
It was Ignatius' idea to re-create the Stormbreakers. He believed that if XCOM could show the world that it was supported by a well-known team of international war heroes, it would draw more recruits to the Resistance and undermine ADVENT's legitimacy. The Stormbreakers are just as much a propaganda tool as they are a viable military unit.
Before the Old World Stormbreakers were rescued from captivity, Ignatius was the de facto leader of the "New World Stormbreakers." However for reasons related to military intelligence and propaganda, Ignatius has chosen to hide his involvement in the team, allowing non-European soldiers to hold the spotlight instead, sending a message to the world that anyone could be a heroic Stormbreaker. (While simultaneously taking the heat off the French Resistance)
Fought in the Siege of Hiroshima as a noncombatant defender.
Ignatius was brought up to speed about Project Jericho after he joined XCOM in the mid-2020's. He was absolutely horrified at the idea of creating a human-alien hybrid and has personally stated that he does not consider the daughter of Kotori Sato (Jericho) to be a human being.
Physical Description: At almost 90 years old, Ignatius is far too old to be a combatant anymore. (Barring a real emergency) He is about five feet three inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. While he is physically strong enough to hold and use a rifle, Ignatius generally prefers to carry a Psionic Amplifier instead. Ignatius is mostly bald, what hair remains is white. He has bright purple eyes.
Personality Assessment: Ignatius is a martial pacifist. Due to his extensive combat experience and Psionic Gift, he is quite possibly the most dangerous fighter on the team. (Aside from Jericho herself) However, Ignatius has grown to abhor violence in his old age and is very much a noncombatant now. His skill in battle should not be ignored: If pressed, Ignatius will almost certainly bring a quick end to any fight he is forced into. He is a strong advocate of undermining the ADVENT Coalition using propaganda instead of using violence. He regularly encourages XCOM and Resistance soldiers to capture the enemy alive instead of killing them, and he frequently reminds members of the Avenger's crew to treat ADVENT prisoners humanely.
Additional Notes (The Gift): Ignatius Petoskey is Gifted. He carries a stolen Psionic Amplifier that originally belonged to an ADVENT Priest.
March 8, 2028
Hijeroscant Star System, The Galactic Front Line, Blorg Commonality
“Intruder alert on all decks! Communications failure! Intruder alert on all decks!”
Maka’s voice sounded distorted over the intercom system. Manako’s eyes watered as the lights began to flicker above him, plunging the Mahuika’s bridge into darkness. Captain Enoka clutched at his own chest, an expression of terror dawning on his face.
“Captain!” A tactical officer yelled from the far side of the bridge. “The Beast is spreading out from the point of impact! It’s already starting to subvert our systems!”
“We’ve lost control of the drives and communications tower!” Another bridge officer reported! “Life support systems are being subverted!”
“How long until it gets to the bridge!?” Captain Enoka asked.
“Three minutes, maybe four!”
Enoka and Manako cast knowing glances at one another.
“We can’t let that thing take your sister!” Enoka said.
From above, Maka’s voice was strained and cracking, as though she was in horrific pain.
“I’m losing control here!” she gasped. “The Beast is locking me out of my own body!”
Captain Enoka pulled a command card out of his pocket and rammed it into a card reader.
“We are not going to be turned against our own people!” Enoka yelled. “Standby to begin the self-destruct sequence!”
“STOP!! BELAY THAT SCUTTLE ORDER!”
Mira Mihaka had pushed her way onto the dais. Maka fell silent.
“We’re not done yet!” Mira said defiantly. “Only the starboard flank of the ship is infected right now. We can flood the infected decks with drive plasma and burn the Beast out!”
“Flood the ship with drive plasma!?” Captain Enoka repeated. “Are you insane!? You’ll kill everybody in that part of the ship!”
“Those people are already dead!” Mira countered. “They’re being subsumed by the Beast right now! Just shut up and listen! SILENCE ON THE BRIDGE!!”
Everybody held their tongues and muted their computers. For the first moment, all anybody could hear was the gentle hum of the Mahuika’s life support systems, but then… Manako began to hear it.
From below, seeping through the floors and ventilation shafts… came the sound of screaming. Hundreds of Partogans, Levakians, and Assurians wailed and cried out in pain as the Beast dissolved their still-living bodies and reformed them into Bio-Circuitry. Men pounded on sealed blast doors, trying to escape from the Bio-mechanical virus. A woman shouted into an air vent:
“Let us out! The controls are locked up! We’re all dying down here! FOR THE LOVE OF MIRANDA!! LET US OUT!!”
Mira grabbed Captain Enoka by the shoulder.
“Seal off the bridge, nerve center, and life support systems. Flood the rest of the ship before the Beast turns us all!”
Captain Enoka hesitated, Maka screamed through the intercom:
“It’s taking over my connections! Do it now! I can’t hold on! I’m losing the ship!!”
That was all Manako needed to hear. He was spurred into action at once. Jumping down from the dais, Manako raced towards the nearest engineering terminal on the far side of the bridge. The whole time, Manako could only think about his sister. The telepathic bond between them had suddenly strengthened now that Maka was in genuine danger. He could feel Maka’s heart racing, and within seconds, Manako’s pulse had matched with hers. Behind him, Manako could hear Mira and Captain Enoka pressing the rest of the bridge crew into action.
“Seal the bridge, Nerve Center, and life support systems!” Captain Enoka yelled. “Close off the ventilation systems and pressurize the bridge. Don’t let that damn virus get in here!”
“Sir!” The tactical officer replied. “The Beast! It-i-it’s growing right through the bulkhead on Deck Five! It’s past the Quarantine!”
His hands flying over the controls, Manako spared a little concentration to contact his sister.
Maka, can you hear me? We’ve almost got everything sealed off. We’re gonna flood the ship with drive plasma right now!
Hurry! It hurts! I feel like I’m paralyzed!
“Let’s go already!” Manako shouted to the bridge! “We’re out of time!”
Across the way, Mira and Captain Enoka had joined a pair of engineers at a workstation. One of them, an Assurian male, withdrew a small key from his pocket, inserted it into a red slot and turned it. As he did so, the Assurian growled:
“This sort of tactic is usually a last resort against boarding parties, Mihaka. You do this and the Flagship will be burned out from the inside. We’ll be dead in space.”
“Burned out is preferable to subverted!” Mira countered. “Do it!”
“Standby.” The Assurian said. “It’s going to get hot in here. All critical uninfected systems are now sealed. Setting engines to flank speed. I can confirm that the plasma exhaust ports are now disconnected. Drive plasma will begin flooding the interior in three… two… one… here it comes!”
It was like being inside an oven or a furnace. Manako let go of the controls as his workstation became white hot! His arms, legs, face, chest, and back all began to sweat profusely as the temperature on the bridge skyrocketed! People around him screamed as the walls and floor became hot to the touch!
“Fire!” someone yelled!
Something inside the helm control station had spontaneously combusted! Open flames licked at the helmsman as he undid his smoking safety belt and scrambled away. Captain Enoka grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall but the metal was too hot to hold! He dropped it to the floor where the canister promptly ruptured! Spinning like a top, the fire extinguisher sent flame-retardant foam everywhere! Manako got blasted in the face with the stuff as his entire body was hosed down, but the pain didn’t subside! He still felt like he was burning to death!
Then Manako realized… he wasn’t the only one feeling that way.
In the Nerve Center, Maka screamed! Her chamber was smaller than the bridge! There was less space between her and the white-hot walls! Drive plasma flowed around her little island, sharing only its heat with her! Trapped in that confined space, with hundreds of electrical wires running into and out of her body, Maka was tortured by her own cybernetic implants as they began to overheat and burn out!
Maka’s agony became Manako’s! Both twins were paralyzed and burning! Around them, the Mahuika’s armor glowed red, radiating light and heat into the cold darkness! He screamed his sisters scream and fell to the floor! Mira caught him and held him tight to her chest as the final rush of drive plasma swirled around, above, and below the bridge!
At the last moment, a thought suddenly crossed Manako’s mind. It wasn’t really a mental word or image… but an impulse… an instinct.
Manako reached up with one hand and grabbed Mira’s bare arm! His Psionic power of Psychometry only needed a millisecond to kick in, and Manako was suddenly plunged headlong into Mira’s memories. Within half-a-second of skin-to-skin contact, he relived Mira’s entire life:
A girl born in the Royal Palace. Her mother is the Queen.
The girl is forced to play “husband and wife” with a boy she doesn’t like while his greedy father looks on.
Young Mira and her friend Haki steal candy from the royal kitchen together, giggling all the way.
Queen Kendra the Second became sick and died while her daughter was still young.
Mira couldn’t cope with the loss of her mother, and lost herself as far as possible into her own schoolwork, until…
A thirty-five year old Mira is summoned to the Royal Palace by her old friend Haki… a seven year mission is discussed.
Sixty men and women depart Partoga on a quest for knowledge and answers, but are surrounded by secrets and lies.
Aboard the Midak, Mira crosses a dead Galaxy. She sees firsthand the destruction this war will bring. Stellar graveyards, desolate worlds, personal tragedies.
Some unknowable force reaches out across space and time, pulling Mira to another plane of existence. Monsters and heroes alike accost her.
Returning to the Midak, Mira finds a speck of hope in the shape of a lone Voyager.
Mira arrives at the place where history will end, but answers beget questions.
Secrets are revealed, Mira must hurry home! Along the way, she finds her Gift.
War came to Partoga while Mira was gone. When she returned, she battled her way to that sacred ground where Queen Miranda the Great fought and vanished.
A great cataclysm unfolds… its Mira’s fault. But the Paradox is there! She takes Mira into the past by aiming for the future!
It’s almost like a second chance! To put everything right… to fix history!
But the Paradox is ruthless. She will do whatever it takes to build the perfect future… even if that future must be built upon the burned and broken corpses of the past. It’s unacceptable.
Mira breaks with the Paradox and flees!
Mira hitchhiked her way across the Galaxy, with one destination in mind.
Arriving on a primitive world far away, Mira blends in with the locals and bides her time.
Mira knows the history of this planet far in advance, and navigates the world with ease and stealth.
Watching from atop a hill, Mira witnesses the birth of the one Human she has come all this way to find.
Over the next decade, Mira slowly inserts herself into that Human’s life, eventually becoming a surrogate mother figure to them.
One rainy day, Mira tracks down and observes her past self from a distance. The sighting confirms one of her theories about time travel.
The Second Hyperspace War looms over the life of her adopted child, and Mira begins to make preparations for the day history will end…
Manako let go of Mira! She shoved him away from her with both hands and he collapsed to the hot floor, gasping at Mira:
“Y-you! Who are-?”
“That’s it!” Captain Enoka yelled above the loud rushing noise. “The ship is purged! Venting the plasma into space now!”
Maka gasped. Manako was overpowered by his shared consciousness and his attention was diverted to Maka’s Unbound eyes.
Six ports opened up all along the Mahuika’s hull and began to vent the white hot plasma. Millions upon millions of little hot spheres escaped from the Flagship and rocketed away into space, flying in every possible direction. Within moments, the Mahuika was surrounded on all sides by a constellation of plasma droplets. Spinning and revolving like a little star system, the droplets cooled and congealed in seconds, losing their light and becoming as dark as the black sky behind them. The swirling pattern of heat and light began to vanish as the last of the plasma was ejected and cooled.
Maka and Manako were both overwhelmed by awe and pain. Simultaneously, they passed out.
And finally… the Mahuika was cold, dark, silent, and motionless.
Biography: When she was two years old, Odette’s family had to go underground almost immediately after the Surrender of Earth because her family had ties to (Several) French Resistance movements that have existed throughout history. Fighting invaders and resisting conquerors is literally in Odette’s blood.
XCOM leadership believes Odette was inducted into the French Resistance (current version) sometime around the age of nine and may have fought in as many as two hundred Guerilla Operations in the years leading up to 2035. Odette made any friends in this time; but sadly, most of them were captured or killed over the course of this war.
Odette got onto XCOM’s radar in a big way in 2033 when she and a squad of French Resistance fighters intercepted and captured an entire convoy of weapons, ammunition, and other supplies that would have otherwise gone to an ADVENT Blacksite in Eastern Europe. The enemy retaliated by launching an assault against a known Resistance Haven near Verdun, France. Odette personally led a squad of French Resistance soldiers to defend the haven while the civilian populace evacuated and fled from ADVENT. While Odette’s actions saved hundreds of lives, it came as a terrible price. The entire Resistance squad, save Odette herself, was killed.
Odette’s heroic defense of Verdun caused Ignatius Petoskey to offer her an invitation to join the Stormbreakers, but his messages went ignored for over a year because Odette was still in deep mourning for her lost comrades. When she did join the team, Central Officer Bradford nearly shot her by accident as she boarded the Avenger for the first time, owing to the fact that Odette was never an actual member of XCOM. This was quickly rectified. She is now a fully-fledged XCOM soldier and Stormbreaker.
In battle, Odette functions best if she is left to her own devices. She is a lone-wolf fighter and prefers to separate her enemies from each other and pick them off one by one. During large-scale battles, Odette can usually be trusted to hold down a flank by herself.
Was born after the Siege of Hiroshima.
Does not know about Project Jericho.
Physical Description: Odette is a black French woman, roughly five feet five inches tall and about 145 pounds. She has long wavy black hair and brown eyes.
Personality Assessment: Odette is a loner. She shuns all contact with other people and hardly ever talks. On the rare occasion she does speak, her sentences tend to be very short and direct. Odette does care about her teammates, she just doesn’t like to say as much.
Additional Notes (Celebrity Status): Odette’s role in the defensive action near Verdun has made her famous amongst the French people. The ADVENT Coalition has offered a very high bounty for any information that results in the capture or death of Odette, and ran an extensive propaganda campaign to villainize her. This only served to draw civilian attention to the French Resistance and increase its recruitment numbers.
Biography: Before the outbreak of the Third World War, Hal Macintosh had never gone more than fifty miles away from his hometown of Toledo. He was mechanically minded and often spent much of his free time tinkering with old broken down cars that he’d found abandoned on the street. Unable to find a job and running out of cash, Hal enlisted in the United States Army in the summer of 2011, almost immediately after he graduated from High School. Hal completed training and became a vehicle mechanic.
Hal was deployed to the Japanese Front for the last few months of World War Three. While he did encounter Blake, Chihiro, Aaron, Kotori, Jake, and Holly during the battle, Hal is not one of the founding members of the Stormbreakers.
After the ceasefire went into effect, Hal had a hand in saving the life of future Stormbreaker Tsubaki Endo, as he was the ambulance driver who took her to an Army medical center after Blake and Chihiro stabilized her. When asked about saving Tsubaki’s life, Hal usually denies all credit for the deed. Instead, he’ll usually chose to praise the navigator sitting in the passenger seat of his vehicle: a Japanese child soldier named Nanako Yamada. The soldier in question had not been seen or heard from since the end of World War Three and she is now presumed to be dead.
After the war, Hal returned to his hometown of Toledo and began training to become a police officer. He worked for the Toledo Police Department for about two years before the aliens invaded in 2015. Hal was quickly recruited to XCOM due to his ability to remain calm in frightening or disturbing situations. He was inducted into the Stormbreakers a few days before XCOM HQ fell. He didn’t even get to meet Blake Robinson or Chihiro Tachibana, as they were away on another mission when the aliens began their final assault. Hal did not escape from XCOM HQ with the rest of the Stormbreakers and was captured alongside Laura Harper, the Commander of XCOM. He was kept in suspended animation at an ADVENT Blacksite until he was rescued during Operation Gatecrasher in 2035.
Fought in the Siege of Hiroshima as a defender.
Did not know about Project Jericho. (He wasn’t in XCOM HQ long enough to be exposed to the schism.)
Physical Description: Hal Macintosh is five feet eleven inches tall and weighs about 220 pounds. He is African-American, but his ancestry cannot be traced any further back than 1865. Hal is bald-headed and clean shaven.
Personality Assessment: Hal is a patient man, capable of alternating between calm friendly speech and loud commanding tones on a dime. His time working for law enforcement has given Hal an uncanny ability to read people and detect lies and deception. Hal also has an impressive selflessness streak; he will quickly stop whatever he is doing to protect a teammate or civilian. While this means fewer people die when Hal is around, he is more than willing to give up the success of the mission in exchange for the salvation of at least one endangered person. Hal does not tolerate drug and alcohol use among his fellow soldiers and functions as a natural counter to Jake Green’s personality.
Place of Birth: Volgograd, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Biography: Sophia Kuznetsova is the older of the Kuznetsova twins. She and her sibling, Ludmilla, were both born and raised in Volgograd during the final decline and downfall of the Soviet Union. The Communist state collapsed in 2012 at the end of World War Three and Sophia’s family went from being middle-class to poor almost instantly. Three years later, the Russian Federation was overwhelmed and fell apart during the Alien Invasion. Because her family lived outside of the limits of Volgograd, the Kuznetsovs were able to survive outside of the rule of the ADVENT Coalition for nearly a decade. The stress of massive social and political changes took its toll on everyone in the Kuznetsov household, and Sophia found her own way to cope with the stress: by falling in love with and dating another girl sometime in 2020.
Unfortunately, Sophia’s deeply conservative family did not take the news well. While Ludmilla was happy to hear that her sister had found someone, their father was outraged. He threw Sophia out of the house immediately and did not allow her to take any of her possessions. Ludmilla, out of sibling love, chose to take her sister’s side at once. After being coaxed by Ludmilla, the twins returned to their family home to recover a few of Sophia’s belongings.
Their father caught them breaking into the house. Mister Kuznetsov threatened to harm the girls unless they left immediately. Sophia turned around and made for the window she’d come in through. Ludmilla got combative and tried to push her father away, not knowing he was holding a .22 caliber pistol in his hand. Ludmilla wrestled with her father for a few seconds, and after a moment, the gun fired.
Sophia was struck in the back of the neck. The bullet passed through her mouth from left to right and exited out her right cheek below the eye. Ludmilla incapacitated her father and would have killed him, but Sophia begged for his life to be spared. Ludmilla carried her sister to the nearest ADVENT Gene Therapy Clinic where Sophia received a lifesaving surgery. Unfortunately, the damage to her face was found to be permanent. Sophia now has a hole in her right cheek and it is possible to look into her mouth through it. Since then, Sophia has gone out of her way to always cover her face. (See Physical Description below)
After Sophia was discharged from the Gene Clinic, she and Ludmilla took to living alone in Western Kazakhstan, not too far from the Aralkum Desert. They had, without realizing it, set up their new home dangerously close to an ADVENT Blacksite that was known to the Russian Resistance. Eastern European freedom fighters contacted Sophia and Ludmilla during their recon ops, asking for shelter and food in their home. As soon as the Resistance fighters moved in, Sophia’s house was attacked by the ADVENT Coalition. Although the assault was beaten back, the Resistance fighters wanted to know how the enemy had found them so quickly.
After speaking together with the Resistance fighters, it was discovered that during her visit to the Gene Therapy Clinic, an ADVENT scientist implanted an organic tracking device inside of Sophia’s body. Sophia agreed to let the Resistance fighters cut the device out of her. She has a scar on her left shoulder marking the site of the amateur surgery.
The Russian Resistance was impressed by how Sophia and Ludmilla were able to keep their home supplied with food in the face of intense ADVENT controls and checkpoints. They offered both twins a place in the Russian Resistance. Sophia and Ludmilla became supply runners: moving weapons, ammo, and food throughout enemy-occupied territory.
Sophia and Ludmilla built up a positive rapport with the New World Stormbreakers during many of their missions in the years leading up to Operation Gatecrasher. Several times, she and Ludmilla would sneak or fight their way through ADVENT lines to resupply the Stormbreakers. After several of these missions, Ignatius Petoskey extended an invitation for both twins to join the Stormbreakers. Both Sophia and Ludmilla accepted the offer. However, as of the moment of writing (Tuesday, May 1, 2035) neither of them has been formally inducted to the team yet, as they have not boarded the Avenger recently and are not scheduled to do so again until May 3. Their induction ceremony will happen on that day.
Despite being quiet and reserved, Sophia demonstrated an uncanny talent for logistics. She is able to procure ammunition, food, and drinkable water from seemingly nowhere, despite the fact that she is almost always surrounded by ADVENT-occupied territory. She also seems to have many connections with the Black Market and Resistance Radio network, as the men and women behind those organizations seem to know Sophia on a first-name basis.
Was too young to fight in Hiroshima.
Was not part of XCOM during the Jericho Schism.
Physical Description: No one at XCOM knows what Sophia’s face looks like. Sophia is highly self-conscious of her gruesome injury and now covers her face at all times. Sophia nearly always wears a shemagh headscarf that covers every part of her head except for her eyes. She also carries a Niqāb (Islamic face veil) in her cargo pocket as a backup. During ceremonial events that require formal dress, Sophia will wear a white full-face mask.
Using her twin as a base, we can assume Sophia is Caucasian with brown hair and blueish-green eyes. She stands about 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.
Personality Assessment: Sophia is a loner, preferring to avoid large groups of people and remain silent among her teammates. She also has very low self-esteem and often speaks negatively about herself. However, Sophia is known to be friendly and outgoing towards the very few people she considers to be her friends. Sophia is a skilled tactician as well, choosing to never engage in a firefight unless she knows her side has a logistical/strategic advantage. Sophia's mental health is the subject of concern. See below:
DOCTOR TYGAN’S NOTE: Commander, I feel the need to alert you about Sophia’s mental health: During our last conversation, Sophia vocalized feelings of self-hatred and self-loathing no less than 15 times. Sophia’s sense of self-esteem is non-existent and she seems to have a very low opinion of herself. According to my own criteria, Sophia meets half of my requirements for a diagnosis of clinical depression: She frequently complains about feeling “tired” or exhausted; sleeps about 9 to 11 hours per night on average; and almost never has an appetite for food. She also feels strongly that she does not deserve her place among the Stormbreakers and believes the team would function better without her. Commander,I strongly advise you to remove Sophia from frontline combat duty, keep her aboard theAvenger,andplace herunder observationuntil further notice.
===
**Author's note (Retcon) November 20, 2019: Changed Sophia's middle name from Roxana toIvanovna because I initially misunderstood how Russian names work.
Biography: Matthew Hawkins worked as an elementary school science teacher for nearly his entire adult life before the outbreak of World War Three. Friendly and patient, he found his calling teaching fourth and fifth grade science classes. Nobody at Walkerville Elementary could get young people excited about science and technology like Matthew could.
When WWIII broke out, Matthew caused controversy at his school by trying to teach his students how to survive chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks. Parents accused him of scaring and traumatizing their kids. The school administration ultimately took Matthew's side, in spite of the fact that several students were withdrawn from Matthew's science class shortly afterward. Matthew would continue to teach survival classes all six years of the war.
Only a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, all of the survivalist knowledge Matthew was teaching suddenly came into play when the 2015 Alien Invasion began. He and a large number of his students were able to evade and survive the alien terror attacks on cities throughout the world. During the evacuation of Walkerville, Matthew began to show the early signs of Psionic aptitude. His powers manifested themselves as mild telepathic connections to nearby people. Initially, Matthew thought he was hearing voices and came to believe he was suffering from Schitzophrenia.
Concerned for his own mental health, Matthew traveled to a hospital in New York City and tried to seek help. Unfortunately, Matthew's Gift was detected by agents of the secret society known as EXALT, who at the time were actively seeking out and abducting Gifted people for their own research.
Matthew disappears from the historical record in early April 2015, and it's presumed that EXALT kidnapped him during this time. In the first week of May, there was a pitched battle between EXALT and the alien invaders in the middle of a French city. XCOM forces were deployed to the scene, but the conflict was over by the time they arrived and the Area of Operations had fallen into alien hands. It was later discovered that Matthew and three other Gifted individuals were stolen from EXALT by the aliens during this fight.
On June 28, 2015, the aliens launched a massive assault on XCOM Headquarters, an underground facility buried near the city of Manhattan, Kansas. Using Mind Control, the aliens forced Matthew and the other three Gifted people to use their own powers in a wide-reaching Psionic attack that disrupted and confused XCOM forces before the base itself was actually breached. The sheer amount of Psionic energy it took to carry out the assault drained Matthew's entire pool of Psi energy and left him permanently exhausted. Their usefulness outlived, Matthew and his fellow prisoners were abandoned on the side of a hill just outside of XCOM's now-ruined headquarters. They were passed over by the fleeing Stormbreakers and left alone for nearly a day. After some time, Matthew and his friends gathered themselves up and escaped into the wilds. His comrades were Frenchwoman Annette Durand and Egyptian siblings Said and Fatima Tariq.
Choosing to stay together as a team, Annette, Said, Fatima, and Matthew salvaged weapons and ammo from the ruins of XCOM before traveling into western Kansas. They set up a campsite in the wilderness and made a point of killing any alien or ADVENT supporter that dared to come close. Over the first few years of the alien occupation, the four survivalists offered food and supplies to any refugees or American Resistance fighters passing through. Eventually, some of these passerby chose to stay in the campsite, either for a short spell or permanently. Very slowly over the course of several years, Matthew, Annette, Said, and Fatima transitioned from being survivalists into fully-fledged members of the American Resistance. Their campsite grew into a Resistance Haven called "Liberty Creek" and evolved into a small village-like community.
In late March of 2035, the resurgence of XCOM, success of Operation Gatecrasher, and growth of Resistance movements around the globe led the ADVENT Coalition to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Resistance for the first time. The Elders declared a state of war and authorized their military forces to aggressively strike out at any settlement thought to be harboring the Resistance. On March 22, 2035, ADVENT Peacekeepers laid siege to Liberty Creek, intending to massacre everyone inside the settlement. Matthew put out a distress call to XCOM, and the Stormbreakers themselves showed up within hours. Matthew, Annette, Said, and Fatima fought alongside the New World Stormbreakers throughout the entire Battle of Liberty Creek, meeting and assisting Ignatius Petoskey, Sophie Ackermann, Yutaka Yamamoto, and Odette Fournier in their mission.
When the fight was over and ADVENT had been repulsed, the four Old World Stormbreakers who had met Matthew and his friends spoke to Central Officer Bradford and encouraged him to recruit them to XCOM. Bradford agreed and passed the recommendation to Commander Laura Harper. She brought Matthew and his friends aboard the Avenger and personally inducted the four fighters into XCOM.
For the first week of April, Matthew, Annette, Said, and Fatima tried to stay together as a 4-man squad called "The Furies" but Commander Harper couldn't be convinced that XCOM needed another 4-man squad. She broke up the group and reassigned everyone to different teams. Annette became XCOM's liaison to the Templars, (another Resistance faction) Said was assigned to Echo Squad, Fatima became part of the Covert Operations Division, and Matthew was inducted into the Stormbreakers.
Did not fight in World War Three.
Does not know about Project Jericho.
Physical Description: Matthew is six feet one inch tall and weighs nearly 190 pounds. His curly hair was once blonde but is now grey, and his once purple eyes are now grey as well. (see Additional Notes below)
Personality Assessment: Matthew is a very soft-spoken individual, although interviews with people who knew him pre-war suggest this wasn’t always the case. Matthew is socially outgoing nonetheless, he may not speak as much as his colleagues, but he is always invested in whatever the group is up to and will contribute to the mission’s success in his own way. As a survivalist, Matthew does have a mild paranoia. He is always on the lookout for quick escapes from any situation and is generally anxious about consumable supplies such as food and water.
Additional Notes (The Gift): Matthew Hawkins’ Gift is exhausted; all of his powers are gone. He does retain a mild resistance to Psionic attack, but his ability to resist mental invasion is entirely dependent on his own personal willpower.
My Sistership: A Short Stellaris Story
Chapter Five
March 9, 2028
Hijeroscant Star System, The Galactic Front Line, Blorg Commonality
“Good work with the Assurian Frigate, Salvager Four. You’re cleared to land in docking sleeve B-3.”
“Acknowledged, Command.”
“Salvager Fifteen, did you track down those suit beacons we picked up near the disabled Heavy Cruiser?”
“Yes, Command. Unfortunately, we only found one alive. Partogan Tech Sergeant Kahu Tamanui is being debriefed right now. We tagged the rest of his team for the burial ships.”
“Acknowledged. Salvager One, any progress on the Flagship?”
“Got good news and bad news for you, Command. Good news is that some of the crew is still alive. We rescued the bridge crew and a few others. We also recovered Fleet Command, sir. The bad news is that she’s in very rough shape and needs medical attention right away.”
“Understood. We’ll have medical teams standing by as soon as you dock.”
…
A Levakian Mothership broke formation with the rest of its fleet and departed the day-old battlefield. Escorted by a token force, the Mothership began to tow the wreck of the Mahuika away from the scene. The rest of the Triple Alliance battle fleet turned around and began pushing deeper into Beast territory. For all of the rescued Triple Alliance crew aboard the Levakian vessel, the war was over for now. In the Mothership’s medical bay, the twins had only been awake for an hour or so.
Manako and Maka both felt terrible. While the medics had gone out of their way to treat the twins in two separate rooms, their telepathic connection allowed each twin to see and feel what was happening to the other. Therefore, Manako wasn’t surprised in the slightest when a doctor came into his room and explained the extent of Maka’s injuries.
“Your sister has suffered severe heatstroke.” The doctor began, “And has first and second degree burns along her head and arms, roughly ten percent of her body. All of the burns are concentrated along the points where her cybernetic implants were embedded into the skin. The implants themselves are damaged as well. The Psionic Amplifier embedded in her brain is nonfunctional, and at this juncture, I don’t think it will ever be possible for Miss Ranginui to interface with a starship again. I’m sorry.”
Manako didn’t answer right away. He was too busy consoling Maka. He had been listening through her ears when she’d been given the news just a few minutes earlier.
“Okay, thanks for telling me.”
The words felt hollow. He knew that Maka wouldn’t mourn the loss of her Amplifier. The Gift was something she naturally possessed. But losing her ability to interface with ships, that news had hit Maka harder than the death of a loved one. She had spent the past six years of her life working to make this technology happen, and during her short time spent merged with the Mahuika, she’d absolutely fallen in love with the experience.
If Maka could have her way, she would have remained part of the Mahuika forever. It just wasn’t fair! Manako reached out to his sister’s mind:
Hey, Maka. Are you okay?
Not really. My head feels like it’s gonna split open, and my implants still feel like they’re burning.
Was the transition alright? You know, from ship to you?
It was really hard. You know, I’m starting to understand why the Bentusi chose to self-destruct rather than be turned by the Beast. Getting “bound” …uh, I mean… getting cut off from my ship was one of the worst things I ever felt. It felt like I died.
What do you mean?
It was like… like my eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin were all being torn away. Without the Mahuika’s sensors… I feel… blind and deaf… but my eyes and ears are working just fine. It really feels like I’ve lost something important.
Maka, I’m so sorry you had to be pulled out of there, but I don’t know what I’d do if you died. I don’t want to know.
Neither do I, bro. Losing you would probably kill me.
Heh, let’s not test that, sis.
Hey, bro. I’m not so sure about what happened right before we blacked out. Did one of us have, like, an insane hallucination right before I passed out?
No hallucination, sis. I touched Mira.
Holy Mother of Miranda! So all that crazy shit was real!?
Yeah, it was. Mira’s a time-traveler.
Past or future?
Couldn’t tell. She’s been to both.
What the hell is she doing here then?
I think she wanted to warn us about something, or…someone…
Oh, no.
Both Maka and Manako jumped to the same conclusion at the same time.
They had both grown up watching those famous videos from the Battle of Aoraki. They had read about Queen Kendra the Great’s exploits during the Levakian Uprising. They knew about the Paradox, but the twins didn’t know everything.
Impossible. The Paradox is dead. Grandmother killed her.
Oh, man. Looks like we’re about to get our answer, bro.
While the twins were communing with each other, the door to Maka’s room opened, and Mira herself stepped inside cautiously. Ignoring the medical equipment around her, Maka jumped out of bed and stood upright! IV lines pulled out of her arms and flapped helplessly in a sudden wind as Psionic energy began building up in Maka’s body. She was spooling up a telepathic attack!
Hang on, Maka! She’s not the Paradox!
Maka didn’t listen; and Mira noticed her newfound hostility. She kept to the far side of the room and raised her hands slowly.
“Give me a chance.” Mira said cautiously. “I swear, I’m here to help you.”
“Like you were there to ‘help’ my Grandmother at Aoraki, Paradox!?” Maka snapped accusingly. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t shred you into atoms right now!”
Mira flinched at the word “Paradox.” Maka pointed her right index finger at the time traveler and sparks shot out of her fingertip, telegraphing an imminent Psionic assault!
“I’m enemies with the Paradox!” Mira said loudly! “I’m not with her!”
“Not with?”
Maka calmed down, dispersing the built-up energy throughout her body and releasing it as heat. Sweating, she kept her hand raised, but was no longer preparing to attack.
“What the hell’s going on?” Maka panted. “Who the hell are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? Where’s the real Mira Mihaka!?”
Psst. Maka. It’ll help us all if you give her a chance to explain herself!
Keeping her hands up the whole time, Mira talked slowly.
“Your cousin, the ‘real Mira,’ is safe. She’s on Partoga.” Mira began. “I can’t explain time travel in a way that makes sense to you right now because your brother’s still trying to figure out what he saw in my head. He might figure it out by himself in the next few days anyway.”
“Keep talking.” Maka kept her finger aimed at Mira. The words spilled out quickly:
“My real name is Mira Mihaka. I swear! ‘Mira’ is just a really popular name in the Mihaka family. It gets used a lot. I’m from the past, but from your point of view, it’s the future. Like I said, this whole thing is confusing, I’ll explain in greater detail later. Right now, there’s something more important I need to tell you about.”
“And what’s that?”
“Where I’ve been and why I came looking for you and your brother.”
“Start with where you’ve been.”
“Earth.”
The answer was so unexpected that Maka lowered her hand to her side and Manako actually got out of bed and started pacing his room.
Wait, does she mean that primitive backwater world the last of the Ethereals took over a decade ago?
Maka repeated Manako’s question to Mira.
“Yes.” Mira said. “That Earth. I’ve been living there for the past few years. It’s going to become a very important planet soon.”
Both Maka and Manako burst out laughing.
“Earth!? Important!?” Manako roared. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“You must be mistaken.” Maka giggled. “That place is so behind, some of the people there still think their planet is flat!”
“The Humans are so backwards that they use balloons to go to space!” Manako added.
“They haven’t even broken their dependence on fossil fuels yet!” Maka finished off. “And you expect us to think that their planet is going to be important! You’re yanking my line!”
Mira did not enjoy the jokes, she remained serious the entire time. Once Manako and Maka had their laughs, she said:
“For the past thirteen years, the Humans have been developing a weapon that can destroy the Beast once and for all. I’ve seen that weapon during my travels across time, and I saw it again the last time I was on Earth just a few months ago. I can’t describe it properly here, there’s not enough time. Manako, you saw it when you looked in my head! What I need you need to know is that the weapon isn’t going to be ready for a very long time. But right now, the ADVENT Coalition is terrified that the weapon will be used against them, and are trying to hunt it down and destroy it. When the time comes, I need you both to join me on Earth and stop ADVENT from destroying our Galaxy’s last, best hope of survival.”
Maka and Manako both looked into Mira’s eye. For the first time, they saw how serious she was. Cautiously, Maka reached out telepathically. Mira knew what the Ranginui twin was doing and calmly allowed it to happen. Out of a mix of fear and respect, Maka didn’t probe around in Mira’s mind. She found was she was looking for and withdrew immediately. Then she contacted her brother.
Manako… I think she’s telling the truth. Or at the very least, she thinks she is.
I’m sensing an “and.”
And… the Paradox is involved. Whatever Mira’s trying to do, she’s definitely working against the Paradox. Mira thinks the Paradox is going to be a bigger threat to this new superweapon than ADVENT is now. Mira really does need help.
Can you imagine what Grandmother’s going to say when she finds out the Paradox is definitely still alive?
She’ll probably send the whole damn space fleet to fight her.
The twins held a very quick unspoken conversation with each other. Simultaneously, they came to an agreement. Maka took a few tentative steps towards Mira and extended her hand, not in a combative way, but in an offer of a handshake.
“Okay, Mira.” Maka said. “You’ve got our attention. We obviously can’t promise you anything right now, but you’ve convinced us to keep listening to you, at the very least. As far as I can tell, you’re being pretty truthful with us, and that goes a long way with mind-readers like me and my brother.”
Mira shook Maka’s hand firmly.
“That’s all I can ask you for now.” Mira said. “Right now, I have to go back to Earth. I can’t afford to be gone for too long. Hell, I’ve already been away long enough that I’m taking a real risk. I only came out here to warn you about the Paradox and give you the tip about Earth.”
Wait? Why didn’t she tell us about Earth before we took the Mahuika into battle!?
Maka already had the same thought, and repeated the question to Mira.
“I’m a time traveler, remember?” Mira said. “I knew that both you and the Flagship were going to survive that fight, even if the Mahuika did take a pounding. She’ll be back in action before too long, and you, Maka…”
Mira pointed her finger at Maka with a knowing smile on her face.
“You’re going to prove these doctors wrong, Maka. Don’t give up your life’s work, okay? The fate of the entire Galaxy hinges on your Unbound technology surviving all the way to the final battle.”
When Mira started backing towards the door again, Maka and Manako spoke simultaneously!
“Wait! You didn’t tell us where we can find or contact you again!”
“Don’t worry!” Mira said with one foot out the door. “I’m staying on Earth for the long haul. I’ll send the Mahuika a Hyperwave call when I’m ready for you to come help me, okay?”
Then, Mira was struck by a sudden thought. She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and scribbled something onto it with a pen.
“As much as I love planning ahead,” Mira said. “I have to cover all of my bases. Keep ahold of this… just in case I don’t make contact with you. If you don’t hear from me…”
Mira pressed the paper into Maka’s hand and started backing towards the door.
“I’ll see you in eight years… I hope.”
As soon as Mira was gone, Maka and Manako telepathically asked each other:
What the hell just happened!?
Maka looked down at the note Mira had given her. It said:
Maka,
If you do not hear from me before Naming Day in the year 520, take the Mahuika and go to Earth. Make sure to bring the ENTIRE Triple Alliance fleet with you and be ready for the biggest fight of your life.
Mira
Maka sat down on her bed again and said aloud:
“This is going to be a long war, isn’t it?”
Manako heard his sisters words and replied:
“Yeah. Long, chaotic, and complicated. Where do we even start?”
“I think I know.”
Fort Miranda, Partoga-Levakia, Trecta Star System, Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth
Queen Kendra the Great moved her wheelchair with the deftness and skill of a longtime veteran. It had been a decade since she had last walked on her own legs, but the 114-old Queen refused to let age get in the way of her purpose.
The Commonwealth was locked in the greatest war of its history.
Here in Fort Miranda’s war room, Kendra had a near constant stream of incoming data from the Galactic Front Line. She could see updates on the Multi-Fleet Inoculation, which would hopefully make the entire Triple Alliance armada immune to the Beast virus. She could also observe in real-time the longest battle of the war: The Siege of the Nanjim Star Cluster, where tens of thousands of Super-Capital ships were engaging in a bloody years-long showdown.
While Queen Kendra was pouring over a casualty list from Nanjim, an Admiral tapped her on the shoulder and said:
“Your Majesty, your Granddaughter is calling from Hijeroscant. She says it’s urgent.”
Working the touchscreen quickly, Kendra took the Hyperwave call. Makara’s face appeared onscreen and she waved hello.
“Are you okay, honey?” Kendra asked. “I thought you needed more time to recover from your ordeal.”
“Something more important is going on, Grandma.” Maka said. “I need to ask you an important question: Do you remember your battle with the Paradox?”
A shudder ran up the old Queen’s spine. She put her head in her hands and trembled. On the screen, Maka looked worried. Slowly, Queen Kendra looked above her hands and said;
“Granddaughter, you know I don’t want to talk about time travel. Merely discussing the topic and its implications… acknowledging its reality, can have lasting impacts on your destiny. I will not predestine your life… it belongs to you.”
Maka hung her head. She looked like she was ready to accept whatever scolding was coming. But when Kendra spoke next, the youngest Ranginui twin looked up at her Grandmother with a mixture of surprise and horror:
“That being said, Akira Jaqueline Robinson is the most dangerous enemy I ever faced. In the past century, I’ve never met anyone as intelligent or ruthless as her. Maka… Akira will not hesitate to kill you or your brother, or each and every member of the Mahuika’s crew if it served her purposes.”
Date of Birth: Circa 2018 (Age 17) *Disputed, see Physical Description*
Place of Birth: ADVENT Coalition
Biography:
((SPECIAL NOTE added by Central Officer Bradford: Homura’s explanation of her pre-XCOM life doesn’t add up with her genetic information. I’ve included the information gleaned by our recruiter for now; but Commander, you should know that this story has holes that warrant further attention.))
Homura Hanako was born in Japan roughly three years after Earth surrendered to the alien invasion. Homura was the youngest of five children, and her whole family lived in the ADVENT-controlled city (and later Mega-City) of Tokyo. When she was 15 years old, Homura’s oldest sister began to show the early warning signs of a mental illness called “Paranoid Schizophrenia.” Homura’s parents decided to take her sister to the nearest ADVENT Gene Therapy Clinic for treatment. None of them ever returned home.
Homura and her other siblings waited for several days without leaving their home, anxiously waiting for their parents and eldest sibling to return. When they did not, Homura’s older siblings left the house one by one and ventured out to the Gene Clinic to try and find out what had happened. Eventually, after a few weeks, young Homura was the only member of her family who had not vanished into a Gene Clinic. The teen would have vanished as well, but she was found wandering towards the Clinic by an undercover Resistance operative who rescued her from a predictable yet horrible fate.
Homura was kept in a Resistance safehouse near Yokohama for nearly a year and slowly talked into joining the cause. Eventually, Homura was returned to Tokyo as a Resistance sleeper agent. She passed valuable intelligence about the local Gene Therapy Clinics to the East Asian Resistance, indirectly undermining the AVATAR Project. Homura also seems to have interacted with a surviving remnant of the secret society EXALT at some point before coming into contact with the Resistance; because during a physical examination conducted by Dr. Tygan, he found her body had been altered with Gene Mods known to be used only by EXALT.
In late April of 2035, following weeks of decryption, XCOM scientists working in the Avenger’s Shadow Chamber have uncovered a set of geographic coordinates located in central Japan, not too far from Tokyo. Intelligence reports provided by the Resistance indicate that this location is of extreme importance to the enemy and is under heavy guard. Intel suggests that this location is a secret facility related to the AVATAR Project. An assault on this location is being planned by XCOM leadership.
To facilitate this operation, Commander Harper has determined that XCOM would need to recruit a local Resistance operative who had a strong knowledge of the region and the people who lived there. Homura was contacted by a member of XCOM’s Covert Operations Division and told to report to the Avenger. As of the moment this dossier was written (Tuesday, May 1, 2035) Homura is still travelling towards the Avenger’s current position. (Northern Korea, near the Ruins of Pyongyang) She is being escorted by members of the East Asian Resistance and is expected to arrive sometime tomorrow. At which time, the Commander of XCOM is expected to order an assault on the suspected AVATAR Project facility.
Further details about the planned assault are classified and cannot be included in this dossier.
Was born after the Siege of Hiroshima.
Was not part of XCOM at the time of the Jericho Schism.
Physical Description: Homura appears to be of mixed race. While she is clearly Japanese, her genetic profile exhibits African, European, and American traits. Homura’s skin is currently tan, but her natural skin color seems to be more of a yellowish-white. She also black hair and blue eyes.
Genetic data recovered from the Gene Therapy Clinic where Homura was born shows her telomeres have been altered multiple times, a clear attempt to defy the aging process. Homura has claimed to be 17 years old, but XCOM leadership is now convinced that she is lying about her age and is actually much older than previously stated. This discovery casts certain doubts on the “Biography” section above.
Personality Assessment: Due to the nature of the War against ADVENT, the Commander is willing to overlook the fact that Homura is clearly lying about her origins and physical age. She is an extremely skilled soldier and possesses a great deal of “street smarts.” Homura can blend into the population of both ADVENT Mega Cities and the slums with ease. Homura is a methodical conversationalist, able to talk people into doing what she wants with no trouble at all.
Additional Notes (The Gift): Homura has the Gift and is extremely skilled at using it. She does not have any Psi equipment and doesn’t appear to need or want it.
Additional Notes (Genetic Modifications):
Brain:
Neural Damping: Homura is highly resistant to Psionic attack. If Homura is successfully Mind Controlled, the control is cancelled and she is rendered comatose for several hours.
Eyes:
Depth Perception: Homura’s accuracy improves drastically when she has the high ground.
Chest:
Adrenaline Surge: Homura’s combat strength and abilities improve after being injured.
Skin:
Iron Skin: Homura’s body is extremely resistant to physical injury.
Legs:
Adaptive Bone Marrow: Homura can recover from wounds and injuries twice as fast as a normal person.
